


Backstory

by IdrewAcow



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Experimental Plot, F/F, High School, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 10:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19423675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdrewAcow/pseuds/IdrewAcow
Summary: Everybody's life is a unique adventure, and everybody has a story. Except somehow, Luka's and Miku's lives are suddenly overlapping, and they can't remember the story behind it. Luckily, their friends are there to help them piece it all together. Negitoro, mature language, adult themes, yuri.





	1. Saturday

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Here's another crossposted work, carefully re-read, with refreshed punctuation, removed typos, and improved sentences!  
> Originally, the work was beta-read by Jak656 on FanFiction.  
> Naturally, nothing is every truly perfect so I still welcome feedback and criticism!  
> Enjoy!

Miku stretched contently as consciousness gently came back to her. She realized with a happy grin that she felt wonderfully well-rested, that it was finally Friday, that the early morning sun was shining softly through the blinds, and that she couldn't possibly be more comfortable.

With a happy hum, she put an arm under her pillow and dug her head into it, hoping to bask in the wonderful feeling for a little while longer, at least until her alarm rang. Then, she felt that she was pushed against the very edge of her bed.

A bit puzzled but not concerned, Miku summoned just enough awareness to wonder why she wasn't in the middle of her own bed. But that was enough to also make her see that there was more to it.

Her bed was warm. Wonderfully so. Unusually so. There was another body behind her.

Miku was instantly wide awake. Her eyes darted around, taking in her surroundings. She was indeed in her room, in her bed, and she was naked. Panic swept over her, but she reigned herself in, limiting the output to merely a peep. On the floor, she could see various clothes, some of which were hers' no doubt, but the rest? A hand to her mouth, inhaling and exhaling quietly, Miku eyed the mess, shaking. The unknown living being, which she realized was literally pressed against her back, sighed. Her heart rate skyrocketed, and again she resisted the urge to scream.

Miku held herself back from quite literally jumping up, out or around her bed. Who was behind her? Whose clothes were those?

Her alarm went off. Faster than she thought possible, she turned it off as her heart lashed against her ribs. Once silence returned, she read that it was eight-thirty. But eight-thirty was the time she set her alarm for the weekends, she knew.

Miku turned the device fully towards her and was surprised to be faced with a "Saturday" written on the screen.

Saturday?!

She racked her mind for the previous day. It had been Thursday, she was sure of it. She couldn't remember so much as a wink of what Friday should have been.

Miku breathed deeply, pushing her alarm away from her before hugging herself. She shook with a thousand questions. She suddenly realized how sore she felt absolutely everywhere. Slowly, she rolled into a ball, trying to keep all over her feelings and all of the mystery contained.

Her bed mate groaned and rolled over, but didn't wake up. Miku almost felt relieved at this until an arm draped itself over her. She almost screamed.

Miku slowly turned around but stopped when she realized that the arm led to a shoulder, and from what she could see, from what she could feel, and from what she could reason, she immediately deduced that whoever it was behind her, spooning her, was just as naked as she was.

The math was simple, but Miku repeated the operation a thousand times before it truly sunk in.

Her shaking doubled. All of the questions burned like silent screams at the back of her throat. Who? Why? How? What?

Her unknown companion turned over again, restless. Miku shakily inhaled, gasping for air, as if the arm that was draped over her had deprived her of oxygen.

Miku wondered what she could do. Get up, get dressed, and find out who was taking up the other half of her bed? She couldn't imagine herself doing so. The mere thought of getting out from under the covers made her shiver, and not because she feared the cool air. What if her "friend" woke up before she could even pick up her panties, which she could see, right there, next to an unknown sock?

She didn't even know who to expect behind her. She couldn't even think who she would possibly bring home with her. How would she react upon finding out? What if it was someone she knew? A close friend of hers? Or, worse yet, a total stranger?

Miku didn't do parties, drinking, or staying up late. Even though she had no memory to prove anything to herself, she knew that she hadn't gone out that forgotten day in any way that would allow her to return with a friend. And even if she had gone to some party or soirée and gotten unreasonably drunk, the evening wasn't the only part of the day that was escaping her; it was her whole day!

That single fact bugged her. It was as if the day had been a deleted scene she could never recover. Miku wondered if she would remember eventually. Was it merely temporary amnesia? She hoped so. She wondered if she'd hit her head, or was drugged. She wondered if her bed mate knew what had happened yesterday, if they knew how they'd gotten there.

Suddenly the person in question sighed, and stretched the entire length of the bed. Miku's heart jumped; that morning sigh was a woman's. She feigned sleep, staying still, and trying to breathe evenly.

She could feel the woman stretch and settle down. Then, after a few quick movements, she heard her ask the first question Miku would have asked if she'd been in her place: "Where the hell am I?"

Miku froze up, realizing that she'd been detected. Maybe she was looking at the time while she was at it, but the tealette could feel the questioning gaze on her skin.

Then she felt that the covers were lifted, very briefly, and she squeaked.

"Why are we naked? Who are you?"

Miku turned around with a start and a nervous smile, holding the covers very close. She was about to start blabbering about how she knew nothing either, but then she saw her companion's face.

She was angry and puzzled, and rightly so. But more importantly, she was Luka.

"Luka?!" Miku yelped, clutching the covers even closer.

"Yeah, and who are you?" the pinkette replied, pulling at the covers as well.

They were still awkwardly close to each other, as it was a single bed, and Luka was very angry.

"I— I..." Miku stuttered, not at all surprised that the pinkette had no idea who she was. After all, she was only in the first year. Luka was in the third and was quite up there in terms of the school hierarchy.

What were they doing in the same bed?

"I have no idea what happened!" Miku blubbered.

Luka raised a brow but seemed to believe her.

"What the..." she mumbled, looking around the room. Miku followed her eyes as they noticed the clothes on the ground.

Miku saw the question coming.

"Did we have se-"

"Don't say it!"

Miku buried herself under the covers, closing her eyes, wishing she could simply dig a hole somewhere and hide in it.

"I don't know, I don't want to know, I don't remember a thing, I don't know why you're _here_ , I don't know why _you're_ here...!"

When Luka left the bed, she yelped and buried herself even deeper into her covers. Quiet as a mouse, she listened despite herself as the older teen went around the room, picking up her clothes.

"You know, I wouldn't usually buy that you don't remember a thing, but I don't either," Luka said after a while. "You can look now, you know."

Miku timidly peeped out from under the covers and saw a fully but hastily clothed Luka.

"This isn't what I was wearing yesterday," she heard Luka mumble as she smoothed out her shirt.

"It's Saturday, today. Not Friday," she said, so shy she was barely audible. Only her eyes stuck out from under the blanket.

Luka looked at her with a burning gaze.

"What do you mean it's Saturday? It was Thursday yesterday."

Miku shook her head before shyly picking up her alarm and handing it to the taller girl. She felt like a turtle, hiding under her covers from the seething threat right before her. Luka looked at her alarm for a long time, before handing it back with a scoff.

"Your thing is broken."

"It's not."

Luka turned back towards her, still with a fire in her eyes. Miku could hardly return the stare.

Suddenly, the pinkette seemed to calm down. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Look, sorry for snapping at you. Can you get dressed? I want to talk about this."

Before Miku could reply, Luka left the room, closing the door behind her. The tealette instantaneously jumped out of her bed; she was still shaking.

With quick, uncertain movements, she picked up everything from the floor and threw them in the bin by her door. Then, slightly calmer, as if the removal of the evidence had somehow undone what it had implied, she picked out fresh clothes. Normally she would shower before dressing, but she didn't want to make Luka wait.

Luka? Why was Luka there, of all people? She didn't even know Miku existed! Sure, maybe she did; they crossed in the halls every now and then. But besides her popularity and her appearance, Miku knew nothing of the pinkette, either. What in the world could possibly connect them in such a way that they ended up waking up in the same bed, with absolutely no memory of the previous day?

Dressed, Miku headed out of her room. She found Luka in her living room, sitting on the couch, looking outside through the large windows. The sun hung low in the sky, flooding the room with a soft yellow light. It was picturesque, really, and Miku hated the fact that it was tainted with this paining mystery.

She shyly sat down on the opposite end of the couch and wondered if she had to offer her unexpected guest anything. It was morning, so breakfast was definitely in order for her. But did Luka eat breakfast? Did she have coffee or tea?

"Do I have to try to put together a half-believable story for your parents before they wake up?" asked Luka out of the blue, still looking outside.

Miku was startled; she hadn't expected any question of that kind.

"Don't worry about that," she mumbled. "They're not in town."

Luka raised a brow.

"Alright, that's one less thing to do, then." she sighed. "I guess I'm going to have to explain to mine where I was all night."

Miku looked around her living room, avoiding Luka while she tried to find something to say.

"You were right, by the way. It is Saturday. So I owe you another apology."

"...It's alright."

Luka bit her lip, but Miku wondered how she could broach the subject of an entire day having vanished into thin air.

"And, I suppose, I also have to apologize for the other thing."

Miku stopped her train of thought and looked at her, timid but quizzical. Seeing that the younger teen didn't understand what she meant, Luka sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair. It was obvious she didn't know how to formulate what she wanted to say and had trouble bearing with the tangible awkwardness.

"I'm just going to guess that, before last night, you were a virgin," she finally said.

It slapped Miku right in the face: Luka was right. She hadn't thought about that at all. In fact, she had preferred thinking that nothing had happened in the first place and that it was simply one large misunderstanding. Her main concern had been their shared and troubling amnesia. But if things were as they had seemed, she had very effectively been robbed.

Miku curled up in a ball on the couch. She heard Luka sigh as her question had been answered.

"Sorry, then."

Fighting the tears and more shakes, Miku shook her head.

"It's not your fault."

"It is," Luka spat. The anger wasn't directed to the tealette.

"It isn't," Miku defended. "Neither of us know what happened."

"I don't even know if you gave consent."

"That goes both ways. Plus, we aren't even sure if there was anything to give consent to."

Luka raised her brow again. Miku saw this and sighed, before sitting normally once again, her eyes trained on the floor.

"It looks bad. But maybe it isn't what it looks like?"

"Don't kid yourself," Luka said, her tone soft for the words.

Miku mentally tried defending the hope that maybe, maybe it was better than what the context had led on, but had to agree to some extent. Even if neither of them remembered anything, she knew that the vague soreness she'd felt wasn't innocent.

"You even have a hickey," Luka continued, pointing towards Miku's neck. The pinkette wasn't blushing, and Miku was too deep in her thoughts to realize what exactly that implied. She merely pushed against her skin with a finger 'til she felt it. And then she let her hand fall to the couch, in a dumb state of defeat. She didn't want to wonder if Luka had any of her own.

"The thing is," Miku started, her voice shaking, trying to push those concerns away. "We don't remember a thing."

"So? We can suppose that we went to school, that I came here at some point, and then we-"

"That's not the point!" Miku interrupted. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know you. You don't know me. The only thing we have in common is that we both go to the same school. So, the point is," Miku paused. "What are you" —she pointed— "doing here with me," she finished with another point.

Luka remained silent for a long while.

"I don't know."

Miku nodded, tense.

"We don't have to know," Luka continued. "It would be nice, but what good would that do? We know what happened. Why look into how we got here?"

"It's more than mere curiosity," Miku said, voicing her earlier thought.

"Then what is it? What good would figuring out last night's perversions do us?"

"It's more than what happened in the bedroom!" Miku snapped.

Luka sighed, and again ran her hand through her hair.

"The thing is, we know the outcome. Why go through the pain of looking for the path that led us here? The backtracking would be way too difficult, maybe even impossible."

Miku deflated at Luka's words.

"I want to know why we both forgot everything," she said, just above a whisper. "I want to know why our Friday is gone. And..."

She felt that she wanted to know why Luka was there. The pinkette probably had a dozen other places to be, so why was she there with her?

But the pinkette shook her head.

"I don't want to find it out. You can go on, have a field trip with it if you want."

She stood and made her way to the door. Miku followed, a bit angry but too deflated to say a thing.

"In fact, you have the whole weekend to figure it all out," Luka said as she walked. She put on her jacket. "And if you figure it out...hey, maybe you can let me know if there are chances of it happening again. Prevention is the best cure, after all."

And just like that, she opened the door and she was gone.

Miku stood there, ultimately defeated. Luka had stormed off so efficiently and so calmly that she had no idea how to react. There she was, plundered, with no memory of her Friday, and alone.

Quietly, she cried.

* * *

Breakfast was the largest, most chocolate-filled mug-cake Miku could create. It overflowed from the mug yet she still added icing and sprinkles, as if to drown the rage, the frustration and her helplessness in sugar and cocoa.

An hour later, Miku felt better but no less helpless. Her questions remained unanswered, yet she didn't know how to proceed in the slightest. With some effort, she found the large whiteboard she liked to use when organizing large events and placed it in her living room, between the couch and the window, in such a way that the natural light illuminated it. Across the white surface she drew a long line, with an arrow on the right end. She separated the line into three pieces; the left-most part was labeled "Thursday." In the middle, the largest segment, she wrote "Friday." The right-most segment, formed exclusively by the arrow, was labeled "Saturday."

Miku was ready to piece it all together, step by step if she had to. But she had no first step. So, while she made herself as ready as humanly possible, she had no direction to go in.

She considered calling her friends. For a long time she sat on her couch with her phone in her hands. She couldn't stop looking at the date, and it nagged her like a terrible joke of which she didn't get the punch line. Ultimately, after scrolling through her contact list back and forth, she didn't call anyone. How would she explain anything? How could she justify the question "Can you tell me literally everything I did yesterday?" It was her only lead, yet she couldn't push herself to take it.

She ended up seated on the couch for a few solid hours. She would glance at the whiteboard, at her phone, wonder if she was hungry enough for lunch. She desperately avoided the thoughts about losing her virginity to Luka. She desperately tried to ignore the fact that it would be a milestone in her life that she would never remember. She desperately tried to remember something, anything. It could have been a thought, a wink. Looking through her school supplies told her of homework she hadn't been aware of, and she had even packed the books needed to do them. But she couldn't remember anything related to the work. The subjects they were about had been started in class if her notes were any indication, but she couldn't remember learning about them. There was so much missing, she knew that she'd have to ask for help from a teacher.

Everything was gone.

Around one o'clock in the afternoon, Miku noticed that she'd even gone shopping the previous day. But she had forgotten to buy more butter, and the morning mug-cake had dented her chocolate supplies quite considerably. It was decided that she had to replenish that as soon as possible. The shop just around the corner was still open on Saturdays 'til two thirty, so she could drop by there quickly.

Miku had just put her school books away and written down exactly what she needed on a list when her doorbell rang.

She wasn't expecting anyone. Then Miku shuddered; what if she was, and had forgotten?! Dread filled her with a whimper. Not only had she forgotten, she didn't know what she had forgotten! There was more to a school day than class. There were conversations, promises, disputes. Just then, she realized how bad it truly was to have such a pronounced absence in her memory. What else had she organized, promised, for the near or far future? How would she explain her ignorance? For how long would she be on guard like this, wondering?

With great hesitation, she opened the door and was surprised, and admittedly a bit relieved, to find Luka there. That wasn't all; she was holding flowers and wore a nervous grin.

"Just wanted to say sorry. Again," she said, half-offering the flowers.

Miku eyed the flowers for a second.

"I said it wasn't your fault."

Luka shook her head.

"No, not about that. Or, not just about that. I'm sorry for storming out. You're right. It is about more than just curiosity."

Miku was stunned. Wordlessly, she opened the door to let the pinkette in. Luka complied.

"The whole day, I wondered if I had to tell my parents where I was all night. But they didn't even ask. I started asking myself if they knew already, or if I'd already told them some other lie, or who knows!" Luka started, as Miku closed the door behind her. "They couldn't know the truth in any case; if they found out that I'd slept with a girl they'd kill me!"

Miku clenched her teeth when Luka once again brought up the "sleeping together" problem. As much as she tried to shake it off, it either stuck or Luka threw it back at her. Nonetheless, she accepted the flowers and wordlessly put them in a vase. They were beautiful: various roses and tulips, all different shades of red. Some small, pale pink flowers and greenery completed the bouquet. Meanwhile, Luka kept talking.

"I started questioning everything, you see. I don't even know what kind of stuff we studied yesterday, and I have exams at the end of this year. I don't know what kind of promises I made. It's so silly but," she trailed off.

"I know what it's like." Miku mumbled.

"What I'm trying to say is," Luka sighed. "I'm really sorry about this morning. I was really angry. This— This kind of thing just doesn't happen. I have no idea where the hell I was. Hell, I still don't even know your name."

"My name is Miku. Miku Hatsune," she said with a small smile. While still shy, she was truly happy that Luka had returned with such an earnest apology, and frankly, she understood perfectly. She could only imagine how frightening it must have been for her, yet she had been so calm. No, she couldn't hold anything against her, and accepted the apology wholeheartedly.

Luka smiled.

"I'm Luka Megurine, but I guess you knew that already, quite despite yourself." She held out her hand, and Miku shook it. "Nice to meet you, Miku."

Miku nodded in reply. Luka then noticed the whiteboard.

"Oh, is this our missing day?" she asked, eying the handiwork.

"Yes, but as you can see, I haven't gotten very far."

Luka pouted, then shrugged.

"All in good time. We'll figure it out." She sat down. "What leads do we have?"

"Ah." Miku put her hands together, feeling a bit awkward. Such a quick start, so suddenly. Luka had returned with true, undiluted initiative, apparently. "I was actually planning on heading out first. I need to do a little bit of food shopping, and the store nearby is closed on Sundays."

Luka smiled again.

"Alright, then we'll go shopping."

Miku didn't expect Luka to go with her so readily. She supposed it couldn't hurt, and even looked forward to it; maybe she could get to know her a little.

So, Miku donned her jacket, locked her door, and they were off.

"You live in a nice building," whispered Luka as they walked through the hall to the door. Miku lived on the ground floor, but they still had to go down a small flight of stairs before getting to the front door.

"It's cozy," Miku agreed, also in a whisper. "The halls echo a lot, though."

Luka laughed, their whispers carried on by the endless echoes of the bare hallways.

"That's an understatement," she said as they exited the building. "I don't think anything echoes more than those halls."

Miku shrugged, unimpressed by the halls, but amused.

They walked towards the shop, Miku leading, and Luka following less than half a step behind.

"So, what do you do at school?" Luka asked.

"I'm part of the music club. We're holding a small concert to celebrate spring in a few weeks."

"You play instruments?"

"I compose and sing, mostly," Miku gestured that they had to cross the street. Luka pushed the button, and they waited for the green light. "I know how to play a few instruments, but only so well, so others tend to play."

"How does composing music work?" Luka asked, her brow raised. "What do you start with?"

"It depends on what inspires me."

"Oh?"

The light turned green.

"Sometimes it's a melody I heard, or a succession of noises. The closing of metro doors, followed by a cough, then a ring tone, for example. Or it's a quote. In that case I write the words first. But most of the time," Miku paused, unsure how to put it to words. Luka patiently waited, attentive. "It's a feeling."

"A feeling?"

"Yes. I'm not sure how else I could put it."

"It sounds good to me. Music is all about feelings, isn't it?"

Miku smiled. She would have liked to continue the conversation further, but they had arrived at their destination.

Miku opened the door and held it for Luka, who thanked her.

"So, this is some kind of general store?" she asked, looking around.

There were dozens of different things around of all categories. To the left, against the wall, there was a large bookcase filled with carpentry tools, art supplies, and board games. A large cooler, much like the ones in supermarkets, took the right wall. One large bookcase divided the room in two, also filled with dozens of different objects.

"More or less. They don't sell everything, but they have everything I've ever needed," Miku explained, heading straight towards the back of the store.

As they progressed, more and more foodstuffs and objects related to them took over the shelves. Miku headed straight to the back and found the butter in the cooler. Luka followed and watched, seemingly lightly amused by the sheer variety of things, and frequently picked up objects for which she couldn't immediately see the use.

"Hello, Kaito," greeted Miku as she arrived by the cashier.

She took the chocolate, which was right next to him, and placed it next to the butter. The blue-haired employee, however, was oblivious; he was reclined as far as his chair allowed, with a book pitched like a tent over his eyes. Luka approached and chuckled when she heard the vague sound of techno music coming from his ear-buds.

Used to this, Miku merely rang the bell. Kaito grumbled and lifted the book from his face, only to grin widely.

"Hey Miku, didn't expect you here!" he said joyfully. Then he turned to the pinkette, who was ready to introduce herself. "Ah, nice to see you again, Luka."

Both girls were taken aback as Kaito fumbled with his chair and retrieved the scanner.

"I didn't exactly expect to see anyone here today at all," he explained, pausing for the beep as he scanned the butter. "Especially not you two."

"You know who I am?" asked Luka, bewildered.

Kaito paused, holding the last pack of butter.

"Yeah. As I was saying" —he resumed scanning the objects— "I was waiting for zero customers here today. And you guys came by yesterday, so why would you come by again so soon? But butter's butter and one day you have too much and the next–"

"We were here yesterday?"

He paused again, eying Miku, this time holding the last bar of chocolate.

"Yeah?"

The tealette didn't hesitate. "Did you meet Luka yesterday?"

"Yeah..." he accompanied the word with a very slow, decisive nod.

The two women exchanged a glance.

"Could you tell us about it?" the tealette asked, gripping the rugged counter surface. "In detail?"

Kaito hesitated, unsure of how to interpret the sudden assault of questions. Normally, they kept to something akin to a professional conversation. She would purchase goods, he would scan them as he talked, and accept her money. Suddenly she was showing a profound interest in what he had observed, and stranger yet, she was asking about her own actions.

She could understand his reaction, of course. The whole situation was alien. But her head was spinning; she figured that she'd gone shopping the previous day, but she hadn't known that Luka had been with her!

"Sure, I suppose. You and Luka walked in at, I don't know, sometime after your school day ended, I imagine. You two were really hitting it off and took your time shopping. You didn't have a list, so Luka started saying random things, to see if it would jog your memory. It worked sometimes, too. And it was real fun watching you two, it was like Broadway. Then you both came up here, and you introduced me, which I thought was weird, because hey, normally I'm the one doing the talking. But then we chatted for ten minutes or so, then you guys left."

The two girls stared for a while.

"Why are you asking?" he prodded, unsure. "I mean, that was yesterday. Don't you remember?"

Luka sighed, "We don't."

Kaito put down the chocolate. "You don't?"

"No, we don't remember a second," Miku admitted. "We were actually going to start reviewing everything we did yesterday because neither of us can remember a thing."

"Not a thing?"

"No classes, no words, no actions, no promises," Luka slowly listed, getting graver as she went on.

Kaito put down the scanner. "Neither of you? That's weird."

"It is. So we're trying to trace back our steps. You're our only lead so far."

"Huh."

Kaito quickly scanned the last bar of chocolate and rang the total. Miku started rummaging for cash, without letting her attention truly divert from the man.

He cleared his throat. "You know, we have cameras. One, actually. I could ask my boss permission to access the footage, if you want. There's no audio, but it's got color."

"Oh, that would be fantastic!" Miku exclaimed.

"I'd have to ask my boss, though, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get it."

"Please try," Luka plead.

Kaito nodded and pulled out his phone. Surprisingly quickly, he put it to his ear.

"He's got the number on speed dial," Luka whispered in Miku's ear, sounding somewhat amused, if still somewhat anxious.

"Ah, h-hi, Meiko," Kaito hesitated, and the girls could hear a calm but happy voice answer him. "Listen, I got two customers here who were here yesterday, but they've forgotten everything. Could they see the security footage?"

"Meiko?" Luka asked.

"She's the owner of the shop. She's also my neighbor, she lives across from me," Miku replied, her tone hushed. She was trying to pick up on any clues about what Meiko thought of the idea. Meanwhile, she put down the exact change on the counter.

"Alright. Local business, local people," Luka looked around a few seconds. "It's really weird because I don't remember a thing about this place, and it's pretty memorable."

"You think so?" Miku asked.

"Yeah. I'm more used to... You know, classic superstores, malls. This is somewhat magical, in comparison. Fairy-tale-esque."

Her words surprised the tealette: this store was part of her everyday life, and seemed incredibly ordinary for her. Meanwhile, Kaito was trying to defend their sanity, arguing that even the insane had better things to do than ask for security footage of themselves.

"Magical? How so?" Miku asked, still keeping an ear out for Meiko's tone of voice. The woman was usually agreeable. Usually.

Luka shrugged.

"It's less crowded but more packed. That makes it...intimate. And crazy, and imaginative." Luka paused, before chuckling and turning towards the shorter girl. "Reminds me of our little quest," she said with a grin. "Right now, I can't wait to see what happened here, less than a day ago."

Miku smiled, forgetting about Meiko. She was glad that her senior also looked forward to finding out about what had transpired, and so enthusiastically now. This sincere interest made her feel a bit less alone, and she hoped that ultimately, this was something that they could share.

She could only pray that they would remember their day this time, though. She dreaded forgetting the feelings she felt right then.

"Alright, got it!" Kaito cheered. "Thanks, Meiko!"

Miku perked up, excited to hear the answer. Luka, who had picked up something that looked like a wooden Rubik's cube, put it down, curious to hear the boss' decision.

"So, I can show you girls the footage. But I can only show you the part you guys are in, and I need to be there, so I can make sure you don't see the rest of it."

"Ah, that's no problem!" reassured Miku.

"It also involves quite a bit of administrative work, since accessing the footage isn't exactly easy. Meiko's gonna send me the passwords soon. So how about this? You girls go home, and meanwhile I can set it up. It's not like anybody is going to come here anyways to bother me," he chuckled nervously, swiftly picking up the coins from the counter without counting them. "Then I can come over to your place, and you can watch the footage."

"That's perfect," said Miku as she put the chocolate and butter in her bag. "I'll see you soon, then!"

Kaito winked, making an OK sign with his hand. The two girls then headed back out.

"How does he know where you live?" asked Luka the moment the door closed behind them.

"It's almost impossible for him not too: I'm too nearby. And even if he failed to notice I live literally right there, across the street, he could ask Meiko."

Luka nodded. "He said that we were really 'hitting it off'," the senior quoted, brow raised. "What could that mean?"

Miku thought for only a second.

"It could mean a variety of things, considering it's Kaito. I hope we'll be able to guess what exactly he meant when we see the footage. There's a lot we can guess from body language."

Luka nodded again, before inhaling deeply, ready with yet another question. "So, what do you think we were doing yesterday, shopping together?"

"Just shopping, maybe," the tealette answered.

"Why were we shopping together? We're getting closer to the 'what', but we're still far from the 'why,'" her senior pointed out, quite serious. "We're going to have to backpedal a bit more."

Miku shrugged. "We have no other leads for now, unfortunately," she stated. "This is all we got. Maybe we'll meet someone else who knows a few things."

"Maybe. We already had one lucky encounter, though. I doubt we could get so lucky twice."

"You mean we'll have to look for something else?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean? Look through our school notes? Scour newspaper articles?"

"Things like that, yeah. Real investigation stuff. We can't count on bumping into people who happen to know more than we do."

Miku had to admit she was right. Luck did not favor the blind and unprepared. They had to know where to look, they needed clues. She wondered if her school agenda had anything relevant scribbled into it. Or maybe her other school materials contained hints she'd overlooked.

She unlocked the front door to the building.

"Where would you suggest we start when we're done watching the footage?" she asked, holding the door open. Already the halls picked up on her voice and made it carry on endlessly.

"Well, we could start with looking through our things, or–"

"Oh my _God_ , hello you two~!"

The two girls jumped at the sudden enthusiastic greeting that was amplified thousand-fold by the echo of the halls. A tall brunette stood at the top of the mini flight of stairs, looking absolutely ecstatic to see them.

"Uhm, hello Meiko?" greeted Miku, hoping to make it clear to Luka who exactly was staring at them so excitedly.

"Hello Miku, hello Luka," the brunette returned, stepping down the stairs, trash bag in hand. "I bet you two are doing splendidly."

The whole while she spoke with a playful, almost naughty tone, her eyes darting between the two teens as if she couldn't decide which was more amusing.

"You— You know me?" Luka asked. Meiko seemed almost insulted by the question.

"Sweetheart, I know introductions have been hasty, but it _was_ yesterday. To think you don't remember me..."

Miku scratched "can't count on random encounters" from the conditions of their quest. She also started fearing the worst: Meiko knew Luka and seemed to be endlessly delighted by putting the two students in a single small frame, if her ear-to-ear smile and connecting gazes were any indication. She swore that every time Meiko's eyes went from one student to the next, they were knitted closer together in her mind, as if bundled up by a spider's web. No, whatever Meiko had witnessed was something they would never, ever be able to get out of.

"I'm sorry but I— We don't remember a thing of yesterday," Luka said, partly to try to be forgiven for forgetting her, partly to simply explain their situation.

Meiko squinted.

"Oh, _you_ want the footage!" she exclaimed, suddenly wild-eyed at the realization.

"Yes, we do," confirmed Miku. "All memories from yesterday are totally gone."

Meiko seemed to pause a second, before frowning and throwing the trash bag over her shoulder, as if she were the disappointed version of Santa Claus with a huge bag of gifts.

"Shame for you two: you seemed to be having the time of your lives," she mumbled as she pushed between the two to get outside.

"Wait!" interrupted Miku, almost making a grab for Meiko's arm, without daring to touch her.

The brunette turned towards her.

"See, there's a reason we want the footage. We want to know what happened," explained the tealette, reluctant to continue. "So, uh, what did you see?"

Miku noticed that Luka, too, seemed apprehensive about Meiko's answer: she was fiddling with the hair that seemed to be permanently stuck over her left shoulder. The brunette, on the other hand, had cheered right back up.

"Alright! Listen, I'll just take this trash out, but leave your door open and I'll come on in to tell you the story!"

Just as Miku was about to express her thanks, Meiko added just one last detail before the door closed behind her.

"No kiddies allowed, sweethearts! This story is rated R!"

And the sound of the door closing echoed through the entire building.

"Oh dear," Miku sighed.

She truly hated being reminded of the nature of her and Luka's meeting that morning. She had had a little hope that their situation wasn't what it had seemed, but with each reality check from Luka, it had faded bit by bit. Already reduced to a speck of dust, she feared that it was about to swept away by Meiko's eyewitness.

"Hey, we'll manage, alright?"

Miku had jumped, not because of the suddenly reassuring tone in which the words had been spoken, but because of the hand that rested on her shoulder.

Despite her surprise, it was heartening. Luka was right: things happened all the time, some bad, some good, and people all over the world managed. On the grand scale of things, this little thing was definitely manageable. Somehow, they would manage. It might take a little while for her to truly believe it, but Miku was comforted nonetheless.

"Yeah. Thank you," Miku whispered against the echo, sincere.

Luka gave her a smile of encouragement before they headed back to Miku's apartment.

The big whiteboard stood ominously in the middle of the room. Still lit by the sun, still empty, still the physical incarnation of the girls' demand for answers.

"Alright." Miku grabbed a marker. "What do we know now?"

"After class, we went shopping together," Luka answered as she took a seat on the couch. She stretched, getting comfortable.

Miku nodded and made a little mark for noon for reference, and one for four o'clock. She usually took half an hour to get home from school, so she decided to put a little dot on four thirty to indicate their arrival at the store.

"But I end class at three!" Luka suddenly exclaimed, confused. "You finish at four on Fridays?"

"Yes, I do." Miku responded, marker hovering over the board.

"Well, that's an anachronism," Luka stated.

Miku stared at the board dumbly.

"I wouldn't skip class," she mumbled.

"I'm not so sure I'd wait an hour for someone I barely knew on a Friday. No offense."

"None taken," Miku said as she rubbed away the little dot. "As long as we're not certain, I won't date it."

"Alright."

Luka watched as Miku meticulously wrote above the time line "Shopping together," without any corresponding dot.

"Anything you want to add?" she asked, hoping that the label was specific enough.

"No, that's enough for what we know."

Miku thought for a second, and just as she was going to ask a question, Meiko barged into the room.

"Grab your popcorn, tissues and 3D glasses, cause this is going to be a hell of a show!" she declared, shutting the door behind her. "Wow, I never thought I would have the honor to tell this kind of story to anyone, for their own benefit! Haha, it's like the universe played a huge prank on you guys! And in my favor, too!"

Miku suppressed a sigh of dread and sat next to Luka as Meiko took center stage next to the whiteboard. The brunette, of course, noticed the large off-white surface. Immediately seeing what it was for, and ultimately decided it was of no use to her, she grabbed a marker and began swinging it around theatrically as she told her tale.

"The time is ten past five," she started in a dark, somber tone. "Not a sound to be heard in the entire building. People are reading, knitting, doing who-knows-what. I, myself, was solving the most difficult Sudoku in history. Then, the front door shut. Everyone heard it. I heard it. Obviously. Those cursed halls carry the tiniest sound from the lowest floor all the way up to the top of the building, magnified, multiplied! So me, poor lady on the first floor, got the blunt of it all when I heard... _giggles._

"They never stopped. Endless, endless laughs, chuckles, high-pitched expressions of innocent joy! It was impossible to tell how many perpetrators were responsible for such irresponsible mirth as the sounds were repeated again and again and again! I, poor soul, could not possibly concentrate on my oh-so-difficult and important Sudoku! No, it was beyond impossible! My building rage for those chirping merrymakers was so great that I was more focused on the actual building of my rage than the Sudoku! Ah, how it had infuriated me so!"

She paused for breath.

"But finally —or suddenly rather, it is difficult to describe— it stopped. See, the sounds continue for a long time after the source stops, in those halls. But with continuous exposure, one develops a skill in being able to interpret those echoes with a certain amount of accuracy. So yes, the sounds faded away gradually, but their source had actually stopped suddenly! The miscreants had abruptly stopped giggling like infant girls. Only the ghost of their joy remained, bouncing through the halls, before it, in turn, faded away forever.

"I thought that my three-minute ordeal had finally been over. Silence had returned to the mansion. The Sudoku waited for its completion. Gleefully, I turned my attention and devotion back to it, and managed to scrawl a measly little '3' when suddenly! A deafening, enormous metal clash was heard! And again! And AGAIN! It repeated for endless seconds, and thanks to my honed skills as echo-interpreter, I realized that the culprits were _still on the first floor_. After three minutes of yapping, they were still right outside my door! And that noise! While after the clash, it had gone quiet again, it wasn't guaranteed they wouldn't make more! Nay, the contrary! Certainly, without my intervention, they would continue for another three minutes! And maybe another!

"My Sudoku was long forgotten. I got up, headed for my door, and opened it. And there lay many an explanation. First of all, there were two little delinquents. Second, the guilty one of the loud noise was the bundle of keys that had fallen to the ground. Third, it became quite apparent why they had been giggling and most importantly, why they had so suddenly stopped..."

A lecherous grin took over Meiko's face. The two teens could only expect the worst.

"Oh, they were kissing! Passionately, and dare I say, lustfully! Oh, they kissed as if they knew they were living their last days! Pushed up against the door frame, hands everywhere, not a breath of space between them! Endless pulling, tugging, physical expressions of 'more, more!' And more could only be served! There was no other way! A hand slipped up a shirt, a skirt! A deep moan then tore through the air, rode the halls all the way to the top of the building, and I could only hear, as I heard that sound, how they were slowly but surely reaching their own summits of joy..."

Two wide pairs of eyes stared at Meiko.

"Then I laughed and told you guys to get a room. You kinda snapped out of it, Miku, and managed to open the door and sorta half-introduce Luka to me even as she was giving you a hickey." She paused then pointed with a grin. " _That_ hickey."

Miku's hand shot to her neck. Luka's face matched her hair color.

"Then you went inside your apartment and shut your door. End of story."

"Oh my fucking god," breathed Luka.

"That can't be true!" exclaimed Miku, near desperately.

Meiko only shrugged with a self-satisfied grin.

"Please. You can ask literally anyone in this building 'Hey did you hear me passionately make out with my girlfriend in the halls yesterday?' I can guarantee you that you'll get 'Definitely' and 'Please never again commence with the giggling and the dropping of stuff'."

Luka groaned.

"I don't think I've ever quite seen so much petting in a public place."

"Meiko, we— We've heard enough," Miku stated quite haltingly.

Meiko paused, and noticed that her time of welcome had expired.

"Alright gals, if you have any other questions about yesterday, just knock on my door. You can ask tomorrow or in a hundred years! Just dig up my grave and read the back of my skull; it's all engraved there forever!"

She shut the door behind her, before sheepishly returning to put the marker back in its place. Then she left for good.

Miku inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly, rolling up in a ball. She put her hands on either side of her head.

She couldn't believe it. There was absolutely no denying what had happened. The feeling of having been robbed returned, only twice as heavily and violently. And she had been willing! She sounded so, so willing! That might have been a comfort, knowing that little less than twenty-four hours prior she had been eager to embark on such a journey, but somehow it only added pain. She didn't know what had encouraged her. She didn't know how she could let herself get so intimate with someone so quickly! She'd always thought that she'd need a few dates to be ready enough. Less than a day? She wondered if there was something wrong with her, but without her memories, she truly couldn't tell.

Once again a comforting hand found its place on her shoulder. Its weight and warmth brought her back to reality, and somehow she managed to make a clear distinction between the present contact and the kind Meiko had told them of. It wasn't the same gesture, and wasn't the same touch. It had a different meaning, a different intention, and what it meant at that moment was suddenly immeasurably precious to her.

"I'm sorry for freaking out a little." Miku mumbled, taking her hands away from her head. "It's..."

Luka said softly, "It's alright, really."

The tealette turned towards her, and realized that she'd been fighting back tears; her vision was blurry. With a suppressed giggle, she wiped them away with her sleeve.

Luka wasn't looking all too happy, either. Nonetheless, she was providing the tealette with support. Miku realized that her senior was being endlessly generous when it came to tolerating her and her views, even if they could be considered childish. She was very quick to comfort her, and Miku couldn't have been more thankful.

Then came a second realization: Luka had, since the very beginning, asked questions about Miku, for Miku. But the tealette had difficulty with returning the favor, beyond understanding her actions and motives. Feeling guilty and somewhat selfish, as if she had, until then, taken the older girl's kindness for granted, Miku almost shook the hand off of her. But denying attention because she didn't deserve it wasn't the answer.

A question came to mind. And the moment it arrived, it burned a hole through her consciousness. It was something that she had to have answered, for she felt that the answer, yes or no, would impact her heavily for a reason she couldn't yet comprehend.

She opened her mouth to speak. Luka noticed. Then Kaito knocked on the door.

"I got the footage, girls!" he called through the wooden surface.

Miku visibly deflated but went to greet him nonetheless. He was there with a laptop, which was open. A few cords hung from the keyboard. He'd walked through the streets like that?!

"I kinda need to plug it in ASAP," he said sheepishly.

Miku let him in and showed him the nearest outlet to the couch. He plugged in his computer then sat between the girls.

"Alright, it's all ready. This is the second before you two come in, and I'll stop it the second you two leave. It's roughly half an hour long."

"Half an hour?" asked Luka incredulously, once again fiddling with the hair over her shoulder.

Kaito shrugged, "Yeah. Explains why it took me a while to get here. I kept waiting for you two to leave so I could know when the 'stop' point would be. I wanted to be super ready, you know? Don't want to break any rules or anything."

Miku looked at the screen. It showed a picture of the shop. The image was grainy, but it was still clear that the camera was hanging somewhere above and to the right of the door. Still, they could look down the entire length of the store, with the cashier all the way in the back, to the left.

"Half an hour," she mumbled. "So be it. Let's see what happened."

"Alright! Let's go!" cheered Kaito, pressing the "play" button.

The second after Kaito pressed play, the door in the bottom left corner of the screen opened, and sure enough, the two girls entered the store. Kaito was right: there was no sound, but the color was good. Despite the grainy picture, the colors helped them see more than they would have otherwise. Miku could only imagine how painstaking it could have been if they had to see the exact same tape in various shades of gray. Would they even be able to tell the girls apart?

Luckily, there was color, and they could see well enough, so they saw that the girls were slowly, but surely making their way to the back of the shop. Every now and then Miku would pause to pick something up. Kaito, way in the back, watched, symbolized by a pinch of blue dots.

Around the five minute mark, Friday-Miku seemed to hesitate more than she did before.

"See, you didn't remember what else you had on your list," Kaito explained. "You're trying to think of what other things you needed."

Friday-Luka, who had been admiring some pale object (Miku thought it would be fun if it had been the same wooden Rubik's cube that had fascinated her so just earlier), then walked up to Miku. With no sound, it was impossible to tell if they were talking or thinking. Suddenly, she elegantly dashed from one object to the next, waving her arms, reminding the tealette vaguely of "Singing in the Rain". Every now and then, Miku would catch up to her and pick something up, while Luka would go on, so swift it seemed almost choreographed.

"Here Luka's listing all the random things she's coming across. It's helping a lot," Kaito once again helped with his witness. "It was real fun. Straight out of a Disney movie."

Luka chuckled at the sight of herself, only a day prior.

Miku, on the other hand, had been focused on very, very slight details that caught her eye. Sometimes, she needed to spot just that one pixel that betrayed a single little action, movement or touch. She noticed that the two girls on screen seemed incredibly close. From that one hand resting on a forearm, or touching shoulders, or the short contact that told that maybe they had held hands for a second, to even, she thought, a kiss on the cheek.

The two girls she was studying were close. Best friends since kindergarten. Or, they were in a relationship, and being very open about it.

Miku felt like she was looking in a mirror, but her reflection was possessed. She couldn't imagine that who she was looking at was her. And yet...

She thought of the comfort that Luka had brought her so easily with only a touch. She thought of how smoothly she'd taken it. It seemed so effortless. More importantly, it felt almost natural.

The tealette shook herself back to the present when the two girls on-screen started dancing together. Holding hands and twirling around the store, Luka still picked up random objects and she spun past.

"You two were laughing so hard," added Kaito with a contented smile. "It was like the happy end of a Disney movie! So jovial."

Finally, after a good twenty minutes of their dance-shopping, the two made their way to the counter. Quieter, calmer, they seemed to stand right next to each other, close enough to touch without having to try.

As they had gone all the way to the back of the room, their images were formed by a mere pinch of pixels each. Kaito had totally disappeared between a cluster of pink and teal.

And they stood there. Their only clues that the footage hadn't been paused were the slight changes in the pixels showing the walls, indicating that the outside light was slowly changing, and the strange lighter band that kept going up and down the screen.

"What exactly did we talk about?" asked Luka after two minutes of seemingly nothing happening.

Kaito blew a raspberry. "Silly things about forgetting a shopping list. Then of forgetting in general."

Miku's eyes widened at that. A clue?

"But really, only little things said between giggles. You two were in such a great mood. Let's see, Luka mentioned that you were in the music club, Miku."

"I learned that today!"

"Apparently not," mumbled Miku, who was closely watching the pixels. Suddenly, the teal had shifted somewhat, or rather, the color changed a bit before returning to its original shade. Had Luka run her hand through her hair?

"Miku, then you talked about the people in your club, but that didn't last long. You moved on towards what you were planning for the concert that's in a few weeks. You talked a long time about the kind of songs you would be playing, and Luka listened really well. It's like you were her whole world," he explained with a chuckle. "Sorry, must be weird for you two to hear."

"We got worse from Meiko earlier," grumbled Luka.

"Meiko was here?" Kaito asked, sounding excited.

"Yeah, she got to tell us her part of the story we've forgotten."

"She also saw you guys yesterday? What did she have to say?"

"Nothing important." Luka said dismissively. Somehow, Miku knew that she had said that for her sake, to get Kaito to drop the subject, and not to belittle the worries she had had related to the subject. It was important to Miku, and Luka knew, but Kaito didn't have to know.

"Oh, alright," Kaito said, dejected. "But at least it's a little bit you're certain of, right? A small step can go a long way!"

"Right," Miku confirmed, hoping to end the conversation; it looked like the girls on screen were going to head out soon.

Sure enough, mere seconds later, they turned from the cashier and headed for the door. Luka was carrying the grocery bag. As they got closer to the door, their expressions got more and more defined. They were smiling, so much so that it looked like their eyes were closed. Their shoulders were touching; Miku wondered if they were holding hands.

The door opened, then they disappeared. Kaito paused the footage.

"Alright, that is it," he declared, apparently very proud of himself and of the job well done. "Any parts you want to watch again?"

"No, I think I've seen enough. You, Miku?"

"...maybe just a single moment," she said, hesitant. She had to be sure.

She instructed the man to rewind to a certain point: when they got to the cashier, or rather, about two or three minutes after.

"What do you expect to see, Miku?" asked the pinkette, brow raised. "Literally nothing is happening. We're standing there, and we're so far from the camera that my hair looks like one of those 'z' shaped blocks from Tetris."

The younger teen didn't answer, and merely watched. And yes, there it was. The slightest of shifts: the pixels hadn't even moved, but they had changed color in just a way that she could tell that there had been movement just too slight to properly convey with those large pixels. And from what she could interpret, Luka had probably touched her hair.

"You're right, there's nothing," she sighed. "We've all seen it."

"And the rest is history," Kaito whistled, unplugging his computer. "So, the time of your visit was from half past four 'til maybe a little after five," he added after noticing the whiteboard.

Miku thanked him and put the appropriate points on the board.

"Alright, have a good day, girls! And good luck with finding out what happened!" Kaito said before swiftly getting out the door.

"For a guy who loves talking, he sure doesn't waste any time getting places," Luka remarked. "And I _do_ finish school at three, not four."

"Well, maybe you went back to school or you met me in front of the store or something else. Either way, you were there at four thirty."

Luka sighed, defeated. "That's right. We know where we were. But why? You had shopping to do, surely. But why was I with you? Why would I wait for you? Did I bump into you? Why did I tag along?"

Miku wondered if she had also noticed their proximity in the footage, but decided to keep her mouth shut about it. "We'll find out eventually," she muttered, putting the cap back on the marker.

"Oh, Meiko said we were back here around ten past five? She actually saw us around quarter past, but..."

Miku sighed, having forgotten Meiko's story. Staring at blurry pictures for thirty minutes was taxing. Nonetheless, she took the cap back off and added another dot to the time line.

"How should I label it?" Miku asked, nervous.

Luka hesitated for a while, before saying decisively, "Encounter. Just that. No need to add any details, alright?"

And again, Miku felt that the extra words were for her. She smiled softly as she added the label. "So, now what?" she asked.

Luka could only shrug.

"Now I suggest we go through our school stuff. See if there are any clues we can find. I doubt we'll find any more clues about what happened after five, because, well, we were here. Let's see if we can find anything from before four thirty that could possibly explain this whole situation."

Miku sighed: she didn't look forward to the task. She dreaded looking at recent school notes and being unable to comprehend them. But maybe she could try making sense of them while she was at it; it was only a day's progress, so it couldn't be too much to learn, right?

They had noticed that Luka had brought her bag on Friday, and had forgotten it at Miku's place as she had stormed off that morning. It was quite compact, so Miku wasn't surprised that it hadn't stood out in the camera footage or why Meiko hadn't pointed it out. How relevant is a random school bag to a witness, anyway?

What did surprise her was how much stuff the pinkette could put in there. She wondered how it was physically possible. First came out an agenda, then a few thin notebooks, then a binder, then three pocket books, and finally a large history book. As the binder had been pulled out, Miku had the impression she was watching Mary Poppins all over again. Meanwhile, the tealette had already prepared her own schoolwork into neat individual piles: Math, English, Geography, and Literature.

The two silently scanned every little page for the slightest clue. They even swapped a few things, just to have a second pair of eyes to make sure there was nothing odd. Luka giggled at Miku's little doodles in her agenda but found none that hinted towards their missing Friday.

The work was long and exhausting. Miku had put away the math 'til last, and as Luka was patiently viewing her tiny scribbles in her history book, she finally built up the courage to open her math book.

Of course, she had learned a few new formulas on Friday. And since building on a weak foundation did not in the slightest offer a stronger structure, her understanding was limited, to say the least. The entire subject was difficult to grasp, so the new material was a whole new beast to kill.

She tried not to think about it and merely reviewed the notes, looking for something useful, but started dreading the upcoming Monday. She was so far behind in only a day...

Of course, math had nothing useful concerning the amnesia issue. Seeing that the pinkette was still busying herself with the large pages of the history book, she decided to study a little. Why not? She already had her notes ready before her.

The more time she spent trying to understand, the more her previously acquired knowledge simply unraveled. A sense of uselessness filled her; was she so incapable of studying math? What good was trying? And what good was trying to find out what had occurred the previous day, anyways? They'd just be looking for the rest of their lives without ever finding anything! They'd exhausted their sources, and had nowhere else to look!

"Oh, you're studying? I thought that you were still looking."

Miku jumped. Luka sat across from her at her dinner table, her books already packed away in her bag.

The tealette nodded.

"Yeah. You were still busy, so I tried to understand what we learned yesterday in math."

"Any luck?"

Miku sighed, "No."

"Should be simple enough. Let me see," Luka said as she scooted closer to be able to read the notes. Miku blushed lightly but turned the book slightly in her direction nonetheless.

"Easy. Let me help," offered Luka, already pulling a pen from her bag.

"No, it's fine—"

"I'm the one saying it's fine. Here, I'll explain it real quickly. You'll see in five seconds that it's really not that hard," she encouraged.

Miku listened closely as Luka explained. It wasn't as simple as Luka had made it out to be, but gradually, she managed to get a better understanding of the subject and more importantly, a strange certainty came over her that soon, when she'd be in third year, she would be able to look back at her math subjects and think that they were easy. She remembered having difficulty with multiplication when she first learned it, yet right then, she could multiply effortlessly. Somehow, knowing that repeated exposure to such problems would make them simpler, and somehow, this was incarnated by Luka. It wasn't her deep comprehension of such a silly mathematical problem wasn't that made her feel better, it was the smile. It was how she went around to explain it so easily, not the actual explanation.

Miku didn't understand it much better, and not for lack of trying. But she knew that someday, she'd understand, and that made her feel better, good enough to keep trying.

Because Luka made a visible effort to help her, Miku thanked her once, twice, then Luka wouldn't let her thank her again. The tealette could tell her senior wasn't proud of the fact that she'd failed to help Miku understand, and the tealette doubted she would be able to explain how much her senior actually helped.

Time had ticked on to five fifty. Without leads, the two had no path to pursue. Miku realized that Luka would have to go home eventually: she had gotten the impression that her parents were quite strict. Then again, that assumption was based on a single sentence Luka had said hours prior.

"I have to go. If I'm too late, my parents will kill me," Luka mumbled as she put her pen back in her bag.

Miku nodded to herself; she'd guessed correctly.

"The trip isn't too far?" she asked, hoping that Luka wouldn't put herself in danger by being out so late and alone. Early spring evenings were still so dark.

"Hardly. I'm also roughly half an hour from school. Just a bit more westward," the pinkette described vaguely, putting the bag over her shoulder. "I'll be home in twenty minutes if I walk quickly enough."

Miku did the mental math and realized that Luka could be living in a house instead of an apartment complex. It was also a nicer part of town, so Miku was reassured that Luka would be safe.

"Be careful," she said despite herself as she opened the door for her guest.

Luka smiled.

"No worries, I will be."

With one more wave and a goodbye, Luka left her house for the third time that day.

Miku sat on her couch and eyed the whiteboard. Two little dots decorated the time line, and they were still so far from finding an answer. All they had discovered that day only confirmed something they had already known.

She sighed deeply.

She supposed that she could be happy, to an extent. Of all the people she knew, and of all she people that she didn't, she had ended up sleeping with Luka. And while the memory was gone, she guessed that it could have been much worse. Anybody else could have been less agreeable, or fun, or curious, or, if she could be superficial, attractive. Luka was also being so supportive and comforting. She was so endlessly helpful.

Yes, she supposed that she could be happy. And as the thoughts continued in her mind, the sour feeling of being robbed washed away, and the painful wound turned into something less scarring, less deep. All that remained was a certain regret that she had crossed milestones, and the memories were indeed gone forever.

That bitter regret wasn't something that could be helped, Miku thought. She knew that one day, she'd grow up and learn to deal with it. She'll have other memories to cherish.

But a fear remained; what if the sudden amnesia were to reoccur? What if the next day, she'd forget everything again? She'd have to start over, again. And what if it kept happening? Miku shivered at the thought: she imagined the rest of her days waking up, working again and again, to remember what had happened the previous day. Maybe at one point someone would be assigned to her, to be there when she woke up, to tell her that it'll be like that for the rest of her life and that there's no point in trying...!

Miku shook her head, trying to chase the thoughts. It wouldn't reoccur, she told herself. But another fear emerged: what if somehow, she'd be lulled into a false sense of security? Things would return to normal, but suddenly she'll wake up married one day, with no recollection of having exchanged vows, or she'd wake up in a prison, ignorant of the fact that she'd murdered a room full of people, or she'd wake up in her coffin, unaware of the fact that she had to be dead?

The shiver returned with a vengeance. Hopefully, they would find the answers to what had caused everything, she told herself. Hopefully, they would find out if it could ever happen again. Hopefully, she'll keep her memories long enough for that to happen.

Tired, Miku decided to simply skip dinner and go straight to bed. And when she slipped under the covers, alone, in her pajamas, she remembered how strange it had felt with Luka next to her. She wondered, now that she knew Luka just a little bit better, if it would be less strange and more pleasant.


	2. Sunday

The following morning did not include any unexpected visitors, unexpected gaps in memory, or awkward introductions, much to Miku's relief. Unfortunately, she still couldn't remember her Friday. Still unhappy about her amnesia, but happy to see that it didn't seem to be a reoccurring curse, she calmly did her homework most of the morning before composing a bit. But all the while, the whiteboard stared at her.

There were still too many questions, she thought. They hadn't found enough to even clear a bit of the fog. And there were no leads left.

Distract herself as she might, Miku could not focus on what she wanted to do. "What else am I supposed to do, actually," she asked herself? Just wait 'til a lead falls from the sky? 'til some incidental scribble unlocks the code? No, she wanted to be proactive and find her leads before they found her. She remembered how direct Luka had been, the moment she said she'd help. Straight to the point. Asking questions, finding answers, agitate! Find a lead and follow it!

But where could she find one? Miku wondered if going for a walk could be helpful, but decided that the odds of crossing people who knew something were too little. She needed people who went to school with her, people she was friends with, people who would have noticed something, anything.

Miku groaned and slapped herself. How could she have forgotten that her own friends were an option? Of course, she'd considered them the previous day, and had decided not to ask them. But after scanning page after page in her geography book, was there any option left, other than giving Rin and Gumi a call?

She briefly wondered if any other potential lead had slipped her mind before inviting them over with a quick text. And then yes, she remembered that she had forgotten something quite important, something she had wanted to tell Luka before Kaito had come in. Unfortunately, she didn't have her senior's number...she wondered if Luka had hers', or if they would talk at all on Monday. Would it be appropriate to approach her first? Considering their places in the unwritten school hierarchy, it would be so-called "uncool" to talk to her. She scoffed; it was stupid really. If she wanted to talk to Luka on Monday, she'd talk to her. And if Luka wanted to listen, she'd listen. She didn't have the patience to wear masks for the sake of people she didn't care for.

Rin and Gumi almost simultaneously replied that they'd be there as soon as possible. Gumi would have to leave soon after arriving, though, to help prepare for a larger dinner that evening. Miku guessed that they would arrive around the same time, since both took the same bus to get to her house, and only a single bus came around every twenty minutes. Chances were fair that they'd step on the same one in an attempt to get there quickly, five stops apart or not.

At that moment, Miku remembered the large, purple hickey she had. It was stubborn, too, and hadn't faded in the slightest. Not trusting her lacking skills in makeup, she got changed into something that would hide it, before patiently waiting for her friends' arrival.

As she waited for her friends to get to her home, she wondered, briefly, what they would do with the answers once they were found. Would the discovery of the source of one-day amnesia have scientific weight? Would it be credible?

The question of her credibility hit her hard. She remembered Kaito's and Meiko's disbelief at the shared amnesia. But because she had Luka to be a second victim to stand by her, a support to her claim, the two adults had been very willing to help surprisingly quickly. Credibility was even the reason she hadn't called her friends the previous day: they'd probably just laugh at her! What would her close friends say when she told them that she'd forgotten her Friday? Rin, especially, would probably think it all a very big joke.

So she wondered if having Luka over again would help with the credibility. Sadly, she had no way of contacting her, so that option was, no matter what, impossible. She wondered if mentioning the pancetta’s name would help, and immediately decided that it would do exactly the contrary; what did The Luka Megurine have to do with Average Jane Miku? Even Gumi would laugh at that idea. So, unfortunately, she had to hope that her friends would believe her, with no support, no help, nothing but the value of her word.

Despite the grim conclusion, Miku smiled fondly. To think that she was actually getting closer, if she truly call it that, to Luka was heartwarming. She had never thought that she would ever even have a conversation with the girl. She'd always seen her in the halls, walking around with her friends. Consequently, she'd never even seen her so up close. She had always seemed so calm, collected, and Miku ended up learning that she was much lighter and more jovial than she could imagine. She was a smiling realist, certain of what she knows and wants, aware of the obstacles in her way.

Yes, she'd gotten to know her surprisingly well in only a day. She wondered what Luka thought of her, but decided not to dwell on that.

"We're home!" called Rin as she opened the door.

"Yo," Gumi greeted as she flopped down on the couch next to Miku.

The tealette greeted them, checked if the door was shut, and sat between them.

"Such an unexpected call. What's this about?" asked Rin, sitting to her right side.

Miku hesitated, shy all of a sudden at the sight of her friends. They looked like they expected something about the music club or a surprise outing. Little did they know that she planned to interrogate them, or worse yet, become their laughingstock.

"I have some questions for you," she started, her eyes nervously darting around the room. She was already curled up in a ball, ready for the worst case scenario.

"Whoa, what's that?" Rin jumped at and looked at the whiteboard. "I didn't know you had a whiteboard! Come on, let's play a thousand games of tic-tac-toe!"

"Wait!" Miku stopped her before Rin could erase the time line. "That's— That's important..."

"This?" Rin looked at the line with a quizzical pout. "This for history or something?"

"It's got 'Friday' written in the middle," observed Gumi. "Related to the questions you wanted to ask?"

Miku nodded. "See, I'm trusting you two to know that I'm telling you the truth," she explained slowly. Rin, surprised by her quiet tone, sat back down. "This is serious and honestly, a little scary. I've been dealing with it all day yesterday."

"Geez, what happened?" asked Gumi, concerned.

"You need to promise me that you'll take this seriously," warned Miku, holding her knees tighter. "Because if you two think I'm lying then I'll push you onto the next bus home."

"Yeah, yeah, OK, I won't laugh or anything!" assured Rin. Miku could feel her getting anxious.

Gumi nodded, a slight crease in her brow.

"I don't remember a single thing from Friday," the tealette declared. "Not a second."

She let it sink in.

"You forgot Friday?" Rin asked.

"Freaky..." mumbled Gumi. "That's what the board's for, right?"

"Yes. I've been trying to piece together what happened."

"It's just a Friday, Miku," Rin sighed, leaning back. "It's not like anything important happened on Friday."

"It's more than the events of Friday," she tried to explain. "These things don't simply happen, Rin. People don't forget whole days. I want to know why it happened."

"Eesh, that's gonna be tough," Gumi sighed. "You already made some progress, though. Kudos."

"It's only the evening, though. I know what I did then, but I don't know why I forgot it all."

"Did you think about getting it checked at the doctor?"

Miku paused. She hadn't thought about it, but only because Luka had the same issue: what were the odds that they both hit their heads in exactly the same way? Were there poisons that could provoke amnesia? Would that also explain their inexplicable behavior? She didn't know, and didn't have time to mull it over for too long: she decided to play dumb. "Did I get in a terrible accident yesterday or something?"

Gumi shook her head. "No... Not that I know of."

Rin gasped. "Did you remember all the extra homework we had?!" she asked.

"Yes, Rin, I wrote it all down in my agenda. But, see, that's the other problem," Miku turned more towards her. "I can't remember what I did. I can't remember if I hurt someone, if I owe someone money, if I made some other promise, if I arranged an outing or agreed to go someplace. It's a lot bigger than just Friday."

"Ouch yeah, that's a big deal," agreed Gumi. "And what if it happens again?"

"Exactly!" Miku exclaimed as she turned towards her.

"Alright, so, what do you want to know?" Rin asked.

"What happened on Friday?"

A heavy pause.

"Well. It was a typical Friday, actually," stated Rin, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh?"

"You arrived at school, we went to class. Math, two hours," listed Gumi. "Ten o'clock. English. Then history. Lunch. Two hours of Geography topped by an hour chemistry. End of class. Done."

"Is that really all?" asked Miku, who had gotten more and more desperate as her friend went on. "Nothing weird or unusual or out of the ordinary?"

Both girls thought for a long while. With each passing second, Miku grew more and more nervous: what if there was nothing at all? The idea jarred her. What if there was no reason, no why? What if it all just happened senselessly? She couldn't bear the thought.

"All I know is that at one point, we were walking together, and then you just, kinda, disappeared," said Rin all of a sudden. "You still arrived in class on time, though."

"Really? When was it?" asked Miku, forcing herself to stay calm despite the magnitude of her relief. There was something, after all!

"Probably after lunch. You both have Geography. I got Physics, so I wasn't there," Gumi reasoned. "Where'd she run off too?"

"I'm not sure. She just darted down the hall and disappeared around the corner. I couldn't ask until after class, but I guess I just forgot about it."

"Alright," Miku got up and put a dot on noon. She captioned it "Disappearance: ran someplace. Why?" before circling the question.

Rin raised a brow.

"'Shopping together?' Together with who?"

Miku froze but managed to force a shrug.

"I got the witness from Kaito. It's a long story, and since I don't plan to write it all down, it won't make much sense."

There was no need to explain who Kaito was; they'd both been to the store he works at, and knew who he was. That also made the "shopping" comprehensible.

"So explain to us," deadpanned Gumi, still stuck on the 'together'.

Miku hesitated.

To tell or not to tell? She wondered, once again, if mentioning Luka would be a good decision or not. Would it work in her favor in any way? Or, on the contrary, how much could it work against her?

"You two believe in my amnesia, and for that, I am eternally grateful. But I'm wondering if you can believe this," she said, mentally preparing herself. She didn't turn away from the board, she didn't let go of the marker. She could feel the stares on her back.

"Try us!" Rin roared. "I'll bet you can throw anything at us and we'll still believe you 'til the end of time!"

Miku exhaled shakily one last time.

"Very well. I was shopping with Luka."

Another heavy pause.

Then laughter. Miku deflated. Even Gumi was having trouble keeping her laughs quiet.

"Luka? Luka Megurine?" Rin asked between chuckles. "That one's for the books!"

Miku hung her head, quiet.

"Do you even know who she is, Miku? She'd never hang out with you! 'Cause you're one of us!" Rin exclaimed. "And we're all at the bottom of the barrel! Why would she, of all people, be scraping down with us? With you?"

Miku shrugged. Why indeed?

She shouldn't have expected her friends to believe so much. Believing sudden amnesia was tough enough, and she was thankful that they'd made so much effort to remember for her. But how could she expect that they'd believe that Luka would be with her that day? It was too much to ask for, she admitted to herself.

A sudden loneliness filled her. Even as her friends helped her with retracing her steps, if just a little, she was the only one blindfolded, and now left in the dark, with no straws left to grab onto. It hurt.

She stood in front of the board, feeling her resolve and her heart break. She had no other paths to run down, her friends were laughing right at her, and Luka was somehow very far away. Once again, the quest felt hopeless. She wanted, she needed a hand, a smile, a bit of effort, a word, all so precisely placed that she'd know where she was going again. But she was cold, alone, center stage in a comedy club.

She felt like crying. Somehow, the most pain was caused by Luka simply not being there. So what if her friends didn't believe her, she didn't need them anyways! So what if they laughed at her, they didn't know that they were wrong, after all! They didn't need to believe that she had been with Luka, they especially didn't need to know that she'd gone so far as sleeping with her! So what about Rin and Gumi?! She needed—

"Hey."

She jumped at the sudden voice; it was so close to her. She looked up, and saw Gumi just a step away, looking hurt.

"Sorry," her friend mumbled. "I— it must be really hard on you, all this."

Miku nodded, sniffing. She was crying, she realized. She didn't like her friends seeing her cry.

"Luka, though!" howled Rin. "She's royalty compared to us! She must have hit her head or something, thinking that Luka would spend a second looking in her direction! That would explain the amnesia, too!"

"Oh, can it!" snapped Gumi. "Just shut up for a second, will you? Luka or not, Miku's hurtin', dammit! And you're not helpin'!"

Rin quickly grew quiet but continued giggling quietly every now and then. Miku felt thankful for her quieter friend but wasn't feeling much better.

"It's gotta be pretty rough, forgettin' a whole day. Can't even imagine the feelin'," Gumi said after a while when Rin's laughs had mostly died down.

Miku felt that her friend was trying to lure her back to the couch, but she didn't feel comfortable crying in front of them. She hadn't ever before, she realized. She never had a reason to cry, either.

She sat on the couch regardless and noticed that Rin was still smiling. A bitterness filled her, and she hated herself for it.

"What can we do to help?" asked Gumi, sitting next to the tealette, who had once again rolled herself into a ball.

"I don't get math much," she mumbled. "But it's alright."

"I'll get you back up to speed, then. We can work on that during lunch!" offered the blonde.

"And, this may be weird to hear, but do you know of any promises I could have made?" asked the tealette, still mumbling.

Rin quickly answered, "Nah. Besides homework, which you wrote down, there's nothing, trust me. We'd know if you had agreed to anything important. Like a date, or something. ...with Luka of all people!"

Miku scowled, but they couldn't see. Rin had, of course, burst back into full laughter, and Gumi reached across the couch, over the tealette, just to slap her.

Of course, she was just a little bit relieved that apparently, she wasn't forgetting anything major as far as her friends were concerned.

Luka of all people. Why Luka?

Miku sighed: something in her hurt.

"Want anything?" asked Gumi, who had finished dealing with the blonde. "A mug-cake?"

"I had one yesterday," answered Miku.

Gumi nodded, understanding that day one post-amnesia would indeed be the best day for a mug-cake.

The trio sat in silence for a short while. Rin and Gumi were suddenly feeling silly and worthless, for what could they do without excessive chocolate to cheer their friend up? And what power did they have against amnesia? What knowledge did they possess in curing it, solving the mystery, or generally helping their friend through it?

Miku was simply thankful that they were sharing the silence with her. With the laughing gone and the mockery in the past, she finally started feeling slightly less lonely, more comfortable with simply crying or a little while.

"If, and this is a big if, you really were with Luka on Friday, then how did that happen?" asked Rin suddenly, very careful about sounding sincere in her question, with absolutely no intention of making fun of her friend again.

"I don't know," deadpanned Miku. "I forgot."

"Ah. Right."

"You know," started Gumi, hesitating. "I might remember somethin' else."

"Oh?" Miku perked up the slightest bit, peeking over her knees.

"Yeah. You got a letter on Friday morning. I forgot because, well, you didn't bring it up. It was pretty long, too. The ink had seeped through the paper. The envelope had nothin' written on it, though. Apparently, it was really well written because you just got happier and happier the more you read it."

"Happy how? Miku gets happy in so many different ways!"

"'Lookin' forward to something' kind of happy, I guess. But you didn't talk about it."

"Huh."

Miku got up and put a dot on the time line. She usually gets to her locker before class, partly to check if she had forgotten anything, partly to drop off stuff she only needed later that day. So she put the dot slightly before eight, when the bell rang. She labeled it "Letter".

"Really nothing happened besides that?" she asked, feeling her heart accelerate.

This was the beginning of something, she thought. This letter, it could be behind everything! It happened at the beginning of her day, and almost nothing else could have influenced her before that point. That letter... Yes, that was the start of it all. It all started at eight that morning.

"Most I can say is that maybe you were antsy? Just a bit?" Gumi stated, unsure. "But you didn't say a word so I thought nothin' of it. If it had been important, you would've brought it up."

"You did hurry up a bit after class to leave, maybe," added Rin. "You kinda just left. Real quick."

"That too, yeah."

Miku added the final dot, then eyed the board. Letter. Disappearance. Left quickly. Shopping. Encounter. Five dots, five clues. They'd doubled their hints, yet Miku still felt so lost. The ache hadn't quite left, but this was progress.

"Thanks," she said, her voice suddenly clear. "This helps."

"Really? Just looks like a mess to me!" exclaimed Rin as she made a face. "It looks like none of those even have a slight thing to do with each other!"

"And who would write you a letter?" asked Gumi. "Why?"

"Where did you go around noon? Why run off so quickly?" Rin pondered.

Gumi snapped her fingers.

"Luka!" she exclaimed.

Rin was about to burst into laughter again, but Gumi continued.

"Don't you see? That's the only thing that makes sense!" she started. "The situation is strange and all, and you being with Luka is just somethin' that, no offense, would never happen. But if you put the two together, it makes sense! She writes you a letter, you go to see her that afternoon, and, euh, go shoppin' with her?"

Two pairs of eyes looked at her.

"Plausible," mumbled Miku.

"Please!" Rin rolled her eyes. "There are a lot of little flaws in your theory!"

She got up from the couch and pointed to the board.

"First, where the hell did she go around noon, huh? Luka doesn't answer that at all! Second, why would Luka go shopping with her? I don't care what was in that letter, but it sure as hell didn't say 'May I please join you in your food shopping? I am most curious about your calorie intake!'" she paused. "I don't know what the hell 'Encounter' means, but there is one more significant plot hole! How did Luka get that letter there before the bell rang? Did she plant it the day before?"

The "why" came back once again. Gumi and Miku stared at their friend, would could only sigh. It would seem the letter needed a reason, too. It wasn't the start of it all, but it was how it all began for her. So what was behind the letter?

"She's right. There are still too many questions and not enough answers. Not enough is stringing this together."

Gumi deflated slightly.

Miku forged on, "Well, at least the ball is rolling. We're talking, brainstorming."

"I forgot! There is one more major flaw in the plan!" yelled Rin. "What is _Luka_ doing with _Miku_ in the first place?!"

"Rin, I swear to God-"

"Admit it. The whole 'Luka' thing makes it all fall apart," concluded Rin as she returned to her spot on the couch.

Miku stared at the board, trying to grow a thick skin. After all, the repetition was making the words sound stale, and they didn't sting as they had moments prior.

Gumi's theory did sound plausible, but Rin's serious points did have their strength, too. No, she could not draw any conclusions at that time. There simply wasn't enough, even with five dots on the board.

"I need to leave," mumbled Gumi, snapping Miku out of her thoughts.

"Ah yes, you said that in your message," answered the tealette, putting the marker down.

"Miku and I can go bake a cake! Take our minds off of things!" cheered Rin. "Double Orange Cheesecake!"

A polite knock was heard at the door. Rin froze, her hands still in the air. Gumi frowned.

"You expectin' someone?" she asked, standing.

Miku shook her head. "I'm not."

"Or maybe you are, and you forgot!" exclaimed Rin with horror.

"Welcome to my life," sighed Miku as she went to the door.

She opened the door, and was surprised to once again find, of all people, Luka. She stood there with a smile, as if she'd been looking forward to seeing the tealette all day. Miku froze for half a second.

Dozens of things ran through her head. It was like seeing Luka had been the gunshot that had started the race of a thousand warnings. Rin and Gumi were there. They didn't know that Luka also had amnesia, they didn't know that Luka was helping, they didn't know they had become close, they didn't know that they'd slept together. All they knew was that, according to Kaito, they had shopped together. There was no way she could reasonably explain the pinkette's presence there without having to explain that they'd woken up in the same room. After all, how would they have known of their shared amnesia in any other way? If they hadn't met in Miku's bedroom, they would have gone about solving the mystery their own separate ways, probably blissfully unaware of the others' identical plight.

And even as those thoughts ran around in circles in her mind, something else came up like some backdrop: it wasn't the main focus, yes it had ultimate influence on her mood, her happiness.

She was surprised that the pinkette had decided to drop by, and hadn't at all expected to find her at her door once again. Had they previously agreed that she'd return? No, they'd left without promises or commitment. Her return felt, despite that, natural somehow. She felt foolish thinking that the older teen would have let the issue die. Of course she'd come back, and Miku, in her panic, found strange happiness at the return.

The mixture of happiness and danger threw her off, and all Miku could think of doing was exit her own apartment and close the door behind her.

"Oh, well hello," whispered Luka, surprised that Miku hadn't let her in, and had instead gone out.

Miku found she was at a loss for words. She didn't know where to start. She didn't want to shoo her away, but she didn't want to have to explain to her friends why she'd left the room. She didn't know how to juggle the elements forced upon her.

Suddenly, Luka's expression shifted.

"Have you been crying?" she asked, her question carried by the echo.

Despite the whisper, Miku recognized the tone in Luka's voice; it was similar to the one she'd used when they'd first met. She'd forgotten it, but it's strangely cold ring sent unpleasant shivers down her back.

"Ah, well—"

Miku realized that her eyes were probably still red and puffy. Yes, she'd been crying. Luka had seen right through her.

"Uhm..."

"Are you alright?" the pinkette asked, her voice taking on another edge.

"Yes!" the tealette managed, her voice quiet. "I'm— I'm alright."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, really. I just got a little bit upset with my friends."

Luka's brow furrowed. "Are you trying to find out more about what happened on Friday with their help?"

"Yes. But they, uhm, they made it difficult, at a moment."

"Is that so." Luka looked at her for another second before looking around the empty halls. "Can we go in?"

Miku didn't move. She needed to explain how difficult it was to justify her presence. Did she have to leave? Did she have to shoo out Rin with Gumi?

"They—" she started abruptly, her voice suddenly very loud. "...they don't know much."

Luka's brow raised, and Miku smiled through her nerves.

"They only know we shopped together. They don't know literally anything else about...us."

She saw how the problem made its way to Luka's mind. She stayed resolute, somehow, and Miku latched onto the present determination to try to anchor herself in her sea of disarray.

"They don't have to know," concluded Luka. "And we don't have to answer if they ask."

Miku's heart skipped a beat at the cold tone and the cold stand Luka was apparently prepared to take. Would she truly shake off any questions asked? She sounded so sure of herself though that Miku couldn't help but agree with that plan of action. After all, what else could she do?

"Alright," answered the tealette.

She opened the door and let the taller girl in, and noticed that her senior's posture had changed to something taller, colder, more unwelcoming. She didn't know how to feel about it and didn't know how to feel about this version of Luka being presented to her two closest friends. Would they ever meet the person she'd gotten to know the previous day? Would she get to see that person again?

Somehow, she was certain that the facade would melt away when the danger left. She was certain that the Luka she had come to know would return to her.

"So who was it?" asked Rin from the couch. Gumi had also taken her seat, so both effectively had their backs turned towards the duo.

A strange, smug happiness added itself to the fears that filled the tealette. She could show them, prove to them that she was right, that she wasn't delusional, that she had indeed been with Luka of all people!

And suddenly, she deflated, and the fear froze her over once again. It was pointless to feel smug about something she hadn't initiated and she couldn't control. Of course, she was glad that the mockery she had suffered would be redeemed, but no, she couldn't flaunt Luka's presence. After all, the pinkette was more than something to show off! Not to mention, there was no guarantee that Luka would stay. Miku couldn't demonstrate any solid friendship, and so as far as Rin and Gumi were concerned, they could only see that Luka was also in the quest for the truth, regardless of Miku and who she was. As far as they were concerned, this was an episode, a phase, that would end the moment the answer would be found.

Luka advanced towards the whiteboard. Seeing the pinkette and her friends all together in the same room filled Miku with a strange feeling that for better or worse, the change had been permanent. She felt that there was no going back to the previous status quo, despite having no proof for it. She remembered the comfort her senior had provided, how they'd talked, how they'd worked together and she felt that there was more behind Luka's actions than mere curiosity. It was just a feeling, she thought, and hoped it was enough.

And so it was with a content happiness and a solid peace of mind that Miku walked before her friends with Luka at her side. At the sight of her friends' expressions, an unstoppable pride filled her as well. Yes, no matter what, no matter the deal, she was happy to be standing next to Luka.

She introduced her friends to the pinkette, who bowed politely, greeting them. Rin was too wide-eyed to respond, while Gumi managed to return the greeting with only a stutter.

Luka then turned her attention to the whiteboard as she sat down on the couch, at the opposite end from where Gumi was sitting. Rin scooted closer to her friend, discreetly, still staring.

"Anything new?" asked the pinkette, making herself comfortable once again, ignoring the attention.

Miku jumped next to the board, a smile plastered on her face.

"Actually, yes!" exclaimed Miku, excited for various reasons. Surprisingly, proving to her friends that she was friends with _the_ Luka had become the lesser force behind her smile. Her greatest joy was surprising the pinkette with the new, mysterious information. "Three things: first of all, I get a letter in my locker at eight in the morning. Then, sometime around noon, while I was walking to class with Rin, I suddenly ran off someplace. I did make it to class on time, though. Finally, at four, I left the school in a noticeable hurry."

She stood there, smiling. Gumi and Luka had paid attention to the update, but Rin never stopped staring. Luka seemed to think for a while, until suddenly Rin yelled the question both friends had been wondering since the pinkette had walked in:

"So how did Luka come into this, huh?!"

Miku froze, but Luka didn't visibly react. Gumi looked from the tealette to their senior, then back, waiting for an answer.

"Long story short," started Luka. "I also forgot Friday. We discovered that it's something we share, and decided to work together to find out what happened, and why."

Miku could see that the "how" was on the tip of Gumi's tongue, but she remained silent. Miku was grateful for her friend's quiet tendencies but feared that she'd find the true answer through observational skills alone. Rin, however, seemed semi-satisfied with the answer.

"Huh!" she blurted, still staring.

"Yes, it's funny how strange occurrences don't happen alone," said Luka in a finishing tone; there was no more talking about that topic, whether they liked it or not.

Miku shivered at her unchanging icy voice.

"So, it could have all started with the letter," she started. "Any idea who it could have come from?"

Miku shook her head with an apologetic smile.

"Not really."

"Hey, can't you just find it again?" spewed Rin, her eyes finally away from Luka.

Gumi also turned towards the tealette; two pairs of expectant eyes stared.

"I don't have it anymore," Miku stated.

"How can you be so sure?" pressed Rin urgently.

"Because we spent most of the day yesterday searching for clues in our things," defended Luka, her tone taking yet another edge. "She would have found it then."

"Oh..." Rin shrank away slightly.

Miku could see that Gumi was on the verge of exploding with questions, yet she still remained silent.

"One hypothesis was that you sent me the letter," said Miku.

"Too many flaws, though!" added Rin.

Luka turned towards the blonde, wordlessly asking for her to elaborate.

"Well, it's just infinitely more likely that it's some dumb confession letter. Plus, it doesn't answer anything else that happens. Like, how did it get it there so early? If you'd dropped it off on Thursday, you would have remembered, since hey, you also have the amnesia, so someone else must have after we left class. Also, why did Miku run away around noon? Why'd she leave in a rush? And—"

Miku could feel that she was going to add her ultimate argument: why would you write to Miku anyways? She didn't even need to glare at her for her to go silent, though, for Luka's even stare had managed to limit her list to the strict necessary.

Luka thought for a second. "I disagree. I think the letter was from me."

"Oh?" asked Miku.

"If we use the principle of Occam's Razor, then it wasn't a confession letter."

"Who's Occam?" asked Rin.

"The principle says that if you need to choose between multiple possible explanations for a problem, the most likely explanation is the simplest one. In our very difficult situation, instead of adding more elements, let's simply suppose that it's linked to the elements we already have," she paused. "So, instead of this letter being from an admirer of sorts, it should, most likely, be from me." Luka stood and pointed at the first dot. "It's not entirely senseless, either. I get to school thirty minutes early most days. You couldn't have known this, but this makes it all the more likely that I had indeed dropped it there before school started. If we try to find out why I wrote to you, then my first guess would be that I wanted to speak to you after class. Why? See here" —she pointed at the mark around noon— "you left. It's entirely plausible that you had seen me, and wanted to communicate to me that you end class an entire hour later than I did."

"Of course!" Miku had forgotten about that and felt silly.

"This would also justify why you would leave so quickly; you knew that I had been waiting for you for quite a bit of time."

"But— But why would you want to speak to Miku?" asked Rin.

Luka stood before the whiteboard, staring at the dots. Finally, she answered, "I don't know."

Miku felt herself freeze over a bit. The constant reminder that they had nothing to do together continued to pain her.

"But," continued the pinkette. "I'm willing to find out."

Miku nodded, unsure how to interpret that phrase.

"Don't either of you know anything about the letter at all?" Luka asked, not moving.

"There's no way to know," mumbled Gumi. "I couldn't read it. You both forgot about it, and for some reason, it's lost."

"What effect did it have on Miku?" pressed Luka. Her tone still hadn't softened and carried its icy ring.

Gumi thought for a while. "I might be wrong, because I didn't really pay attention to it at all. So, general impressions, here. She might've been surprised, at first. Then, as she read, she understood more and more. The sender, or rather, you, Luka, must've been really good at explaining the various motives behind the letter. Then it could've ended with an agreement or an offer to meet, as you suggested. Miku then put the letter back in the envelope, but I don't know much more about it than that, or where she put it."

Luka sighed, and Miku couldn't help but feel equally defeated. Somehow they'd managed to find the source of literally everything that had happened the previous two days, and it was gone. All the answers it carried were gone. One step forward, two steps back.

There was the comfort that they had retraced their steps quite precisely, and she found pride in their apparent capability for finding out so much. Yet, in the grand scheme of it all, those little things meant nothing. Both she and Luka knew where it all lead, but both needed to know why it all happened.

Luka seated herself on the couch, her eyes remaining on the board. She was visibly in deep thought, but Miku couldn't guess what occupied her. She was probably wondering why she had contacted her in the first place. When she thought about it like that, Miku didn't really want to wonder why. She didn't want to question why it had all happened. For some reason, being reminded of how different they were made their current relationship seem all the more fragile. She was happy, she realized, that it had happened. The regrets were mostly gone. But the questions remained. And of course, Miku wanted to have them answered, and not to question why Luka would want to talk to her, but to find out why she'd forgotten. Yes, that was what she wanted to have answered. The amnesia was all that troubled her, and it was all she wanted to unravel.

She seated herself between Luka and Rin, who was still scooted all the way against Gumi. The green haired girl seemed a bit anxious about leaving but quietly stared at the duo nonetheless.

"I can't believe that Luka had nothing better to do all Friday afternoon than wait for Miku," mumbled Rin loud enough for them all to hear. "I mean, waiting an hour is a long time! I don't see why she'd wait so long for someone she doesn't even know!" she paused, then added, sheepishly, "No offense."

Miku couldn't help but feel dejected at that. Luka herself had said exactly the same thing only a day prior.

"I think I can see why," answered Luka. The ice from her voice had melted away, all of a sudden.

Miku couldn't fight the smile that came to her no matter how hard she tried.

"Oh," Miku said, somewhat caught off guard. "That's nice."

Gumi stared at them for another second, before standing up.

"So, no more ideas, Rin?" asked Gumi, nudging the blonde with her foot.

"Ideas? Me?" asked the twin.

"Anythin' weird on Friday," reminded Gumi with endless patience.

"Ah, no...?"

"Alright then," Gumi trailed off. Then suddenly, she turned towards the tealette. "Sorry Miku, but I gotta go."

"It's alright, you already explained—"

"Rin's gotta go, too!" exclaimed Gumi out of the blue, grabbing the blonde by the arm. "Remember, you have a thing with a guy at a place. Let's go."

"Oh yeah, I got a thing," mumbled Rin. "What thing?"

Then the door slammed shut.

"Miku, for some reason people are very swift when it comes to leaving your apartment."

"I noticed."

The tealette was honestly perplexed by Gumi's very obviously odd behavior. Normally she was very soft-spoken and reserved, more observation and less action. For her to storm out in such a way was unusual, to say the least.

Luka stood, and the sudden cold made Miku realize that they'd been seated quite close to one another. The pinkette studied the board for a minute or two.

"So, at eight, you got a letter," she started. "Most likely from me. I probably dropped it off there earlier that day. What it said is a mystery. Why I wrote it is also lost. Then," —her finger slid down the time line, to stop at the mark at noon— "you run off someplace, most likely to warn me about the fact that your class ends later," she trailed off, then kept going down the line. "Then you leave class in a hurry. Again, possibly to me, because I was waiting for you. Next thing we know, we're shopping together, only to end up at your place, little more than an hour after."

She sighed, hands behind her back. There was so much guesswork. Miku could only watch and agree, her mind swarming with questions.

Why, why, why? That one, in particular, burned a hole in her mind.

Somehow, the burn was soothed by the sight of Luka standing there, unwavering, in front of the whiteboard. Her attention was entirely put into deciphering the code of their mystery. Seeing this determination filled Miku with the calming hope she'd needed more than once.

Yet, the realist inside her knew that, while they were making strides of progress at a time, it was entirely possible that they might never find an answer. Would she be able to live with the fact that she forgot a day, one in her whole life, and never know why? She shivered.

"We've been working ourselves silly for two days," stated Luka.

"It's only twenty to one," said Miku after looking at her phone. "We still have an entire afternoon and evening to find things."

Luka laughed.

"I'm saying that it's just past noon and you've already done enough to double all we could do yesterday, and that you deserve a break."

"A break?"

"Yes. If it's going to kill me, I'm getting you out of this apartment and I'm going to get you to have some fun on this beautiful Sunday afternoon." Noticing Miku's apprehensive expression, Luka laughed and quickly added, "And no worries, it'll all be rated E!"

The tealette, apprehensive, curious and suddenly very happy to spend time with Luka in a different context, smiled and nodded. With a grin, Luka held out her hands, helping Miku stand from the couch. A useless, friendly gesture that had Miku stand with a bounce, close to Luka and her smile.

"Let's go, then!" cheered the pinkette. "Bring your coat: we'll be out for a little while!"

Miku did just that before locking the door behind her.

When they both stood in the hall, Luka put a finger to her lips, playfully shushing them both. Miku giggled in response, only to stop herself from making such noise in the halls. They hurried out the door before bursting into laughter.

"Now come on!" called Luka grabbing Miku by the elbow.

"Where to?" asked the tealette, dragged into a run.

The pinkette merely grinned at her, running as fast as she could, before calling out, "To the bus stop! Our bus comes around in a minute!"

* * *

Miku sat on the bus, head leaning against the window. She was sure she was falling asleep only a minute or two away from her stop, yet felt she couldn't care less. She watched the lights go by, the lights that came from the inside of other people's houses, the lights that lit up the street, the lights from other cars, the ones that were reflected in the glass.

She chuckled once, softly, to herself, and let her eyelids drop shut. She felt all that surrounded her: the noise of the engine, the soft chatter of that single conversation in the back of the bus. The smell of cigarette, disgusting car oil, and salt filled her nose. She felt cradled by the comfortable seat, the gentle rocking of the vehicle around her, the glass against her head, and Luka's presence at her side.

The pinkette had somehow managed to funnel the entire day into one second, and she had no idea how she'd done it. Miku smiled at the recent memories, wondering if somehow Luka had known that she was a big fan of karaoke. Either way, she knew it now if Miku's enthusiastic participation was any indication; the moment the tealette had understood that Luka had dragged her to her favorite karaoke place, she felt she was in for an adventure. It was also a bar, so there were a handful of other people there to sing or listen away their Sunday afternoon. Luka had introduced her to the owner of the place, a tall man named Gakupo (who incidentally knew nothing of what they'd done on Friday) before showing her how to take a spot in the queue and chose a song. Miku was more accustomed to the private booths for groups, so didn't know how an open-house place like that worked. She remembered standing at the computer, finger hovering over the screen, wondering how it all worked, as Luka stood just behind her, hand on her shoulder, patiently describing it all. How she could search by genre, artist, or even by just a feeling.

As time ticked on, Luka and Miku sang songs and listened to others. Every now and then one of them stood up, song in mind, because of a sudden urge to sing it. Miku had been shy at first; she hadn't sung in front of strangers before. But before the sun set, she could easily reserve her song and sing it in front of the growing crowd. It was fun and only got more fun as the evening approached.

When the sun set, Luka took one alcoholic drink "to celebrate"; the first all day, and the last. Before, Miku had amused herself with selecting most everything non-alcoholic from the menu, taking one at a time, as she finished her drinks. Luka had taken her favorite beverage (simple sparkling water) again and again, breaking the chain with her one glass of wine. She'd ordered it with a reassuring smile and a promise there would be no complications because of it. Miku, who had been at ease, believed her within a heartbeat and didn't think much about it at all. She'd almost forgotten about it, 'til Luka had said that she thought that it would worry her more. The younger girl merely smiled and said that she trusted her, right before heading back onstage to sing a very old favorite of hers'.

As the sky got darker the place got more and more crowded, and Miku could understand what Luka had meant when she had said that Meiko's store had looked magical. The tealette wasn't used to open karaoke, but the ambiance, the people, and the lights made it seem so spectacular, theatrical. Luka said that she came there so often that it was practically part of her everyday life, but her eyes said that she understood what Miku had meant.

Of course, getting a turn to sing meant waiting twenty minutes in line. The screens displayed the names, making organization the least of their worries. The real problem was remembering that a turn was coming up; conversation between Luka, Miku and Gakupo was vibrant, and when it was just the two girls, it became entrapping. More than once did the whole house have to call the name for either girl to realize that their turn was there. Gakupo laughed at them frequently between mixing drinks and became less and less involved in their conversations as time went by and as the house filled up.

Half past five, already quite dark, was when Luka realized that they had to leave. Miku remembered that she'd left around the same time just the previous day. Despite the fact that the night was still young, she had to acknowledge that it was Sunday, and that they had school the next day. A little let down but still shining, she agreed to go home.

She'd thought that maybe they would say goodbye outside, but Luka didn't say a word and walked with her to the bus stop. When the bus did arrive, Miku said that she thought that Luka lived even more westward, to which the pinkette replied that she did, but she wanted to walk the tealette home.

The moment they'd gotten seated, Miku entered a dreamlike state. She stared out the window, and threatened to fall asleep.

Her head nodded, falling down against the glass slowly but surely. Before she fully slipped into the land of dreams, Luka took her hand. Miku mumbled her way back to consciousness, suddenly fully aware of Luka sitting right next to her, of her hand in hers'.

"Next stop," whispered her senior, standing and pulling Miku to her feet.

"Alright, I'm awake," said Miku, only half-convincingly, as she stood next to the taller girl by the door.

Despite her declaration of being totally conscious, Luka didn't let her go.

They stepped outside into a bitterly cold wind. Miku burrowed into her vest, feeling just a tad under dressed; the cold tickled at her ankles and neck, and her hands weren't safe from the bite, either. Luka didn't fare much better, but had no trouble keeping Miku right next to her.

The tealette was, by then, totally accustomed to having her hand being held. At first, it was such an alien feeling: she wasn't one for those little touches. But Luka pushed past her comfort zone and established a new one where she stood again and again, and Miku could only blush slightly, not shy or embarrassed, but flattered and touched.

The echoing halls became a haven from the weather, and the two silently made their way to Miku's door. Luka let go of her the moment they'd escaped the wind.

"Thanks for walking me home," thanked the tealette as she fished her keys out of her pockets.

"It's no trouble at all," whispered back her senior, both hands in her own pockets. "I hope you had fun."

"I did," responded Miku, stifling a yawn, as she opened her door.

The moment it opened, Miku remembered the important question she'd wanted to ask more than a day prior. It was now or never, she felt. It had to be asked right then and there; one more day would be one too many.

"Do you want to come in for a few minutes?" she asked, voice still hushed. "I just had a few questions."

Luka merely smiled and nodded, looking delighted by the invitation.

The door was quietly shut behind them, and the lights were turned on. Miku headed for the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. Luka refused an offer for a glass and merely stood at the other end of the counter as Miku wondered how to formulate her question.

Miku stared into the water, unsure of how to start. Her question was late and she knew it. They'd just had a lot of fun, so returning to such serious thoughts so suddenly also felt strange. Not to mention, Luka had gone out of her way to make her forget the whole thing for just a while, to wash the worries away, making Miku feel counter-productive by bringing them back up.

But she wanted to ask because Luka had done so for her. She wanted to show she cared, too. The more time she spent with the pinkette, the more Miku wanted to show that she cared, that Luka mattered, that her worries were, by an automatic extension, worries for her.

But how to start? The tealette drummed her fingernails against the glass she held, and Luka waited ever so patiently, half leaning against the counter. Maybe she was concerned, even if she was still basking in the good mood: she was hard to read.

Miku started with her name, to get the ball rolling. The ball rolled a bit, then stopped, and the tealette hesitated again.

"I remember when we both sat on that couch for the first time. We were both startled, to say the least, and a bit afraid, suddenly in the middle of something we didn't know how to identify. And the first thing you do is apologize for hurting me."

She breathed deeply. No matter how much the idea sank in, it was still difficult to bring up. The feeling of being robbed had gone, but the nature of the subject made it difficult for her to talk about casually.

"You couldn't remember a thing. It's not your fault, I said. But you still apologized."

She wondered if Luka understood what she was talking about despite being so vague, but didn't exactly dare meeting her eyes.

"And now, uh, I'm wondering if I have to apologize, too," she finished, looking up, holding on to her glass as if it were a lifeline.

And Luka knew what she was talking about; slight surprise covered her features, before melting into some form of melancholy with a sad smile. She sighed once, taking one step closer, steadily returning the gaze.

"Yeah. I guess if I had to, then you do too." But she only smiled. "But as you said, we couldn't remember a thing. It's not your fault."

Miku was suddenly torn from the present and brought back through time and space to where Luka had sat on her couch, just a day prior, that Saturday morning, and realized that she felt immensely guilty and sorry. And there was the one she'd unknowingly hurt, right across from her, telling her that she shouldn't apologize, all while looking pained.

And yet, a certain peace came to mind at hearing the answer; the pain of having her innocence taken and the guilt of having taken the other’s were roles they both had. They no longer had set, opposite positions and instead they stood on equal ground. Whatever happened on Friday was a first for both, they were equally guilty, equally sorry, and equally hurt.

However, Miku had gotten over it, her heart and mind appeased because Luka had shown she was a wonderful person, and she realized that maybe, she wouldn't have picked anybody else. The only bitterness that remained was the amnesia itself, the milestones forgotten for possibly forever. The tealette wondered if that was also something they shared, if they were both at the same speed.

Either way, she walked up to the bouquet that Luka had given her upon her first return to her home, and picked out the prettiest rose she could find, and turned to give it to the pinkette. She'd wanted to go out and buy something to say sorry, but for lack of time, went for next best. Maybe she felt a bit foolish for returning a single flower to the person who had given it to her. She went for it nonetheless.

Luka laughed kindly at Miku's gesture.

"Thank you, Miku," she said. But she did not take the rose. "It's alright, really. Plus, I don't think I'll manage to take that rose home with me without it dying on the way."

Miku pouted, putting the rose back.

"But thank you anyways," reassured the pinkette.

Miku didn't know what to answer and instead turned towards her, still with a pout. Luka chuckled.

"Truly, it's the intention that matters," she stated, taking another step towards her junior. "So no worries, it's all forgiven."

And then she kissed Miku's forehead.

The tealette blushed, but before she could wrap her head around it, Luka was once again a pace away. She decided that she was definitely forgiven, and if she hadn't already forgiven Luka by then, she would have right then.

She finished her water hastily, uneasily unsure of what to say. Luka seemed to be at ease, and Miku wondered how she managed to keep things non-awkward by simply being not awkward.

"How are you feeling?" asked the pinkette as she ran a hand through her hair.

Miku half exhaled, half laughed. "I... I'm not sure. There's so much."

Luka nodded, leaning against the counter.

"There is."

Miku put her glass away, unable to judge the silence. "Will I talk to you again tomorrow?"

"Of course," answered Luka with a warm smile. "If I find anything from my friends or teachers I'll find you."

Miku smiled back, shyly.

"Why were you crying earlier today, Miku?" asked the pinkette abruptly, her voice once again a little heavier than what Miku was accustomed to.

"Oh." Miku waved dismissively with her hand. "I'd asked Rin and Gumi for help, and I was really happy they had believed me when I had told them that I'd forgotten Friday. Because, well you know, whenever we approached someone with that problem, there were two of us. I was afraid that the claim would sound silly, being all on my own. But they believed me, and they helped, and I was happy for a while." She shrugged. "I was looking forward to telling you all the progress I'd made. Rin started asking questions of her own, though. She asked who I was shopping with, at Kaito's. And they didn't believe me when I said that I was with you."

She inhaled deeply, not meeting Luka's eyes again. She stared, instead, at the drop of water in the sink, and saw how it reflected the lights of her kitchen as it slowly but surely trickled down towards the drain.

"I think... It hurt, to think that having such sudden, specific amnesia was more credible than being with you. It hurt thinking that we weren't meant to meet at all, talk at all. It hurt to think that of all things I could have said to them, you and me spending time together was literally the most laughable thing I could have come up with."

"They laughed at you?" Luka asked incredulously.

"Yes."

Miku saw the drop disappear forever. She didn't move, frozen, staring at the blackness of the drain, remembering how much it had hurt, how she had felt something crackle and break inside her. She felt so weak and frail so suddenly.

"They believe you now, at least," Luka tried to offer.

"They do," answered Miku, her voice almost a broken whisper.

"Hey."

Miku looked up, and realized once again that her vision was blurry. Luka smiled warmly and took her hands in hers'.

"How about tomorrow, we eat lunch together?" she offered. "You'll meet my friends. We'll find out more things about Friday. How does that sound?"

Miku tried to smile, but she only managed to make her lips quiver.

"Then what?" she asked, just above a whisper.

Somehow, Luka had managed to understand her. "Then what?" she repeated, not understanding.

"After we find out about Friday, then what?"

The question hurt so terribly, and she feared the answer so much, that the tears started rolling down her cheeks. With every passing second, she felt them grow thicker, and felt them roll down her cheek, catch on her lip, and fall to the floor. She imagined them shattering like glass upon impact.

The only reason why she didn't collapse on the spot was how somehow, Luka's smile still managed to save her.

"I'm sorry," she blurted before Luka could answer, pulling her hands from Luka's. "I'm— I'm being so childish."

"Hardly!" Luka said, almost as if she was scolding her.

Miku only shook her head, took a step back, holding her hands before her face. She wanted to roll up into a ball again.

Crying so openly, so obviously begging for Luka to stay with her! She suddenly felt creepy, pathetic and weak for being so needy, and straightforwardly so! But why would Luka want to stay with her, even after all this?

Suddenly, two hands made their way through her frail defense and rested on her cheeks. She felt their warmth, mixed with the tears, spread over her skin. It was as if she'd been fished back out of her thoughts and brought back to reality. She was in her kitchen, and Luka was right there, a mere breath away from her.

"It's alright."

Miku sniffed, unsure of what to do with her hands, how to behave, what to say.

"It's scary. This all is."

The tealette nodded, putting her hands on Luka's. The thumbs which were almost too close to her eyes wiped her fresh tears away, and somehow she could only feel safe again.

"We'll manage, alright?"

She nodded again, with a hum this time. She struggled, pushing the sound past the lump in her throat.

"And don't worry. We'll stick together, got it?"

And a breath escaped Miku as relief filled her.

Luka chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Miku nodded fervently, gripping onto Luka's hands as if her life depended on it.

Why would Luka stay with her? Ah, who cared why?! She only needed Luka's word! That was all that mattered.

Deeply reassured, crying only happy tears, Miku practically dissolved into Luka's arms as they wrapped around her.

Time ticked on. Miku eventually stopped crying, and eventually the two simply stood there, holding each other. Miku, already tired, felt she might fall asleep, standing right there in her kitchen. While on one hand, it was a comfort, because she'd never fallen asleep in a dream before, assuring her that everything that had happened was very real; on the other hand, she had to worry for Luka, since the pinkette had, apparently, very strict hours.

She realized that it was probably far past her curfew, and jumped out of her stupor.

"What time is it?" she asked, suddenly. She turned towards her oven clock only to realize that it was six forty; they'd left the karaoke over an hour prior.

"Way too late to start bothering with trying to be on time," mumbled Luka, hands on Miku's shoulders, because she knew that the girl would start busying herself with her curfew. And she was right. "Trust me Miku, I'd much rather be here and suffer the wrath later."

Miku pouted. She felt the salt drying on her cheeks.

"It's my fault you stayed behind," she insisted, her voice sounding stuffy.

"It's your fault for inviting me, it's mine for staying. Now stop this useless tallying, seeing who can be most responsible for stuff. I'm not taking part in this contest," ordered the taller girl as she headed for the door, deliberately slowly.

The tealette could only sigh and follow. She felt cold, but wasn't about to admit that out loud. Just like with Kaito, Meiko, Rin and Gumi, she felt that Luka's departure was abrupt. Yet they took a full minute to get to the door.

"Thank you for everything," she said as Luka stepped outside.

Luka paused, standing in the echoing halls, and turned back towards her with the warmest smile Miku had seen yet. Then she looked up at the massive, deep-set door frame, and across the hall, at Meiko's door. Finally, she looked back at Miku, still with her smile.

"And thank you, Miku, for sharing it all with me," she whispered.

The tealette smiled, tears once again threatening to blur her vision. Luka somehow noticed it, and chuckled.

She gave her junior one more hug, which she returned gladly.

"Good night, Miku," whispered Luka as she pulled back.

"Good night," was whispered in return.

* * *

She still didn't have Luka's number, Miku realized as she crawled into bed. And Luka didn't have hers'. That, paired with Monday coming up, made her feel like a whole new chapter was about to start, some tipping point, and that after the school week officially began, so would something else.

This led to an amazing pressure of finding out what had happened on Friday. If she didn't figure it out that weekend, they'd never know! It was futile, she knew; it was getting late, and with every second she spent worrying about it, it kept getting later, and she grew more and more tired. At one point she even felt compelled to do something about it and find the damned answer, but there was nothing that could be done, she knew it. Who could she interview near ten in the evening? What could she find in the literal dark? What could she achieve in this quest without Luka by her side?

She knew her thoughts were actually foolish. She'd achieved much before meeting the pinkette, and had managed to find quite a few clues without her help. Yet, thinking that somehow, on Monday, something could change scared her, and the small potential that Luka might leave her was chilling. It was as if her senior had become a sudden need and she didn't know how to feel about it. On one hand, she disliked this sudden anchor to her thoughts and feelings; it was as if her mind was the sink, and all thoughts, all drops, went straight to Luka, no matter how hard she tried. The incessant pulling was distracting, unproductive. She also remembered so much with such joy that it was simultaneously a blessing. That other hand held the smiles, the comfort, the fun the thought of Luka kept bringing back to her. There wasn't anything negative left attached to Miku's impression of the pinkette; it was only the image of a dream.

Miku didn't quite know how to interpret the constant, wonderful distraction that Luka had become to her. She feared, suddenly, that something greater than what she could imagine was happening around and between them, and wondered how worried she truly had to become. She felt that once again, she was at the start of something totally new, but wondered if she dared look down the path it would lead her.

So Miku was tossing and turning close to midnight, filled to the brim with mixed feelings for Monday. She couldn't decide what to feel, what to think about, so she forced herself to clear her mind, and turned back to the mystery at hand. Forgetting Friday. Why did that happen? Why did they get together? Why did they forget? Why Luka? Why?

Ah, there she was again. Miku rolled her eyes at herself, and forced her mind elsewhere.

She wondered about Meiko's words. She had said that the universe might have set it all up. She entertained that idea for quite a while. After all, what if the design of their question was made in such a way that they'd never find it, because she would always end up being distracted by the pinkette? For even as she tried her hardest to not think of her senior, she found her thoughts were bound to head straight back to Luka. And just like that, it happened again.

She sighed, and resigned, and allowed her mind to drift where it wanted to go. With that, and with a smile, Miku managed to fall asleep.


	3. Monday

With the weekend done, Miku was scared that she'd wake up with the whole event behind her, untouchable. She feared it could be as if their entire quest suddenly became an unfinished puzzle, on display behind glass, and she couldn't add the pieces no matter how hard she would try.

Luckily, it wasn't truly so, and she even woke up optimistic. Who knew what they could find at school? With all the people walking around, there was bound to be at least one witness to something at least somewhat interesting.

She feared another occurrence of "Meiko", as in a witness who rather shouldn't have witnessed anything. Despite her fear, she told herself that she would go through with it in order to find the answer, no matter how embarrassing it could be, no matter how many witnesses there were. Not to mention that Luka would probably, hopefully, no, definitely, be there. She felt that she could count on her, and felt that she, too, would continue searching. It was a common effort and they were going to find what they were looking for.

She got prepared with all her optimism and good mood. Her books were ready, her outfit looked good, plus it hid her hickey, even if she didn't mind it all that much anymore, she had slept wonderfully well and she could look forward to a good day.

Maybe she felt that the day would also be strange. After all, just three —no, four, she corrected— days prior, she and Luka had nothing to do with each other. In those days they'd somehow gotten together, forgotten everything, and become friends all too suddenly. No matter how obvious they would be about the evolution of their relationship, the mere shift in context would suffice to change the entire school atmosphere for her.

She went outside, caught her bus, and went to school like every other day of the week. At the front gates, she met Rin and Gumi. Before class started Miku checked her locker, as she did every day. She scanned the locker for the letter, but it was nowhere to be found. She could only think that it was out there in the world, somewhere, lost forever. Then the trio went to their first class and spent forty-five minutes listening intently to their teacher.

Of course, her friends asked more about her missing Friday. Miku was sad to announce that no, she hadn't made any more progress since their departure, but had to thank them for all the information they'd given her. After all, thanks to her friends, she'd made fantastic progress towards finding out why it had all started. But with the letter gone, there was more to find. As they talked, Len, Piko, and Ryuto came up and started asking her questions, too. The blonde boy had obviously heard from his sister. Slightly annoyed by her friend's chatty nature, she easily told them that it was simply very strange amnesia and she wanted to find the cause of it. Unfortunately, none of them had seen her on Friday, and none had anything to say about her mysterious disappearance around noon.

Maybe a bit disappointed by the answers they received, maybe not believing her at all, the trio of boys returned to their own class before the bell for the second hour rang.

Gumi, however, was quite insistent when it came to Luka. Miku knew that she knew that there was more to it than what she was telling them. Luka hadn't been too discreet when she brushed off their questions, and Miku knew that her friend was set on finding out what she wanted to know. After the second class, when Rin went off to Chemistry, Gumi cornered her and didn't let her go.

"How did Luka get involved in this, Miku?" she asked, genuinely curious, but Miku couldn't help but hear the slight hint of a threat in her voice. Gumi didn't mean any harm, she knew it, but the girl was often too curious for her own good, and wanted to know more than she needed to.

"We both have the amnesia! How could she not get involved?" defended Miku weakly, trying to shrug off the question.

"Miku, unless you both woke up in the same room, neither of you would have ever known the other had amnesia! It's not like people cross each other and ask consistently 'hey, do you have any weird holes in your memory?' It doesn't work like that, Miku! How did she end up in this mess?"

Miku sighed, wondering how much information she could withhold without Gumi being able to tell she was still keeping stuff from her. She wanted to run away and hide, but instead wrung her fingers nervously.

"Euh, well, you are actually right, Gumi. We did wake up in the same room. More or less. Somehow she'd ended up at my place."

Gumi seemed impressed.

"Wow, really? Huh. Wonder how that happened."

"We've been asking ourselves the same question for two days now, Gumi," reminded the tealette. "But the most important remains 'why.'"

"Yeah."

Miku was relieved that Gumi was satisfied with that half-truth of an answer, and didn't want any more details. Relieved that the conversation had gone so well, she allowed herself to relax.

Class started right then, and for the most part, it went without a hitch, until Gumi started passing her notes.

_So, you 2 becoming friends along the way?_

Miku groaned silently. Gumi had forgotten about the past and was apparently set on discovering more about the present. There was no way to shake her off, apparently.

_A little._

Gumi didn't insist, but Miku could feel her frustration at such an unsatisfactory answer. Gumi failed to visibly respond at all though, so that was a good sign. Miku continued to wait for her questions, but for the remainder of the hour, her friend asked nothing. Once again relieved, Miku focused on the class as best as she could.

When the teacher left the room, Gumi turned towards her. Miku could see the questions before she heard them; they were written all over her friend's face.

"So how'd it happen?" she asked quietly as they got up to head for their lockers.

"Honestly, I can't believe you believe me," mumbled Miku.

"Listen, I thought you were jokin' once. You got me once. I'm takin' your word from here on out in this weird situation. If you say it's so, it's so."

Miku nodded, happy that she'd somehow managed to become more believable in this crazy situation. She wondered if she should thank her friend for sticking with her, while anybody else could have sent her to an asylum.

"There's not much to tell, really. We spent time together, and we became friends," Miku said. "I don't know if there's much else to say."

At their lockers, Miku scanned once again for the letter, but still found nothing.

"So what's it like, bein' her friend?" asked Gumi as she put a dictionary away.

"The usual, I suppose," answered the tealette as she moved around some books, wondering which she had to take for the next class. "We hang out, we talk. And because of Friday, obviously, we work together."

"I'm goin' to go on a limb and say she's the cooperative kind of teammate."

"You're right," Miku said with a smile. "I enjoy spending time with her in general, and somehow working through this whole issue doesn't impact that. It's fun."

Then Miku saw a question burn in Gumi's eye. At that moment, Rin arrived with a cheer.

"Yo! Find anything else about Friday?" she asked.

Miku laughed, "No, Rin! Still no progress, considering we were paying attention to class!"

"No teachers said anything weird?" pushed Rin, hopeful.

"Nope," Gumi answered.

"No classmates?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing, Rin," Miku finished. "But we still have all day."

"We only have one more hour 'til lunch!" cried Rin dramatically. "Then three hours of class then _nothing_!"

"There's tomorrow, there's always tomorrow."

But Rin wasn't the only one being anxious about finding answers. Miku had been looking for Luka the whole day without seeing her once. She wondered if this was typical for a Monday. The sudden absence of pink stuck out to her, even though she'd never kept track of their encounters 'til then. She wondered where she was. She wondered if she was also searching for her.

The trio headed for their next class. Rin let the subject drop and instead started bothering Gumi with balancing chemical equations. Math, their last lesson of the morning, was immensely helpful. Miku understood everything, and she felt like she had to thank Luka for it. Maybe it simply had to sink in, or maybe that positive, encouraging feeling was all she'd needed after all.

When the bell rang, Miku remembered that Luka had invited her for lunch. Conflict filled her all too quickly: did she have to go seek her out? Was she required to leave her friends behind? Would Luka find her? She didn't know what to do, and without Luka's number, she had no way to check. Would Luka be terribly offended if they couldn't eat together? Mad at herself for having allowed this lack of organization to happen, lost because of the excess of possibilities, Miku could only tell her friends of her sudden trouble.

"Lunch with Luka? Wow, you're practically friends!" cheered Rin. "Won't believe it 'til it happens, though! 'Cause it's still Luka of all people."

"They are friends, in case you didn't notice," mumbled Gumi before the tealette could say a thing.

"Oh wow." Rin blinked a few times, staring into space. Miku was vaguely reminded of a computer needing to restart after downloading new software. "So what are you going to do?"

Miku shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Let's sit outside. She'll find us easily," offered Gumi, already unpacking her sandwich.

The solution was quick and simple, and Miku decided it was the best they had. The trio sat in the sun, away from the fresh spring wind. She hoped they were visible enough, for every time she imagined Luka searching for her without being able to find her, her chest tightened.

They sat in silence for a while. Gumi finished her sandwich, Rin turned her face to the sun, and Miku kept turning towards the big windows, unable to see inside. Minutes ticked by, and soon enough only half an hour remained in the lunch break. She started feeling impatient and uneasy and wondered if Luka had forgotten, or if she was looking for her, or if she was the one who was supposed to be looking.

She stared at her hands as she ripped the grass from the earth, head resting on her knees, practically hearing time move on around her.

"Look who's coming," deadpanned Gumi, pointing to the building with her chin. A playful smile crept to her lips despite the way she'd spoken.

Miku whirled around and sure enough, Luka was walking in their direction. Of course she'd find her. Of course she'd come.

"Ohmygod this is actually happening!" cheered Rin.

Miku stood and met the pinkette half way.

"I had no idea where to find you," she blurted, unable to stop herself.

"It's alright," responded Luka. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner. I'm afraid I lost track of time; my friends had a few things to say about Friday."

"Oh?"

"Yes. They're still in our classroom; I recreated your sketch on the blackboard there. Nobody else is in that room right now, so we can catch up now if you'd like."

"Alright!" exclaimed the tealette. Suddenly, she remembered that her friends were still seated mere paces away, and felt reluctant about walking away from them.

But Luka smiled her knowing smile and said that her friends were also welcome. At that, Rin cheered and jumped to her feet.

"We're officially spending time with the Luka at school!" she cried. "This is totally weird but so cool!"

Gumi followed silently. Miku spied that semi-amused look in her eye as the four made their way to Luka's classroom.

Somehow Luka managed to get Miku a step ahead from her friends so that they walked in pairs.

"They're not making you cry anymore?" she asked in a whisper.

Miku shook her head, a shy smile on her lips. "No, not anymore."

"That's good."

Behind them, Rin was ranting about how strange the situation was and that whatever happened on Friday had to be caused by aliens or some divine intervention. Miku heard Luka laugh quietly when she had heard that, and couldn't help but feel her heart fly a little.

One flight of stairs later, the four girls arrived in an almost entirely unoccupied classroom. Two girls were seated on and around the teacher's desk, staring at the blackboard. They only took their eyes away from the chalk drawing when Luka closed the door.

Miku couldn't help but notice how grown up the girls seemed, despite only being two years older at most. Even the blonde, who was practically draped across the desk, sipping from a juice box, had such a mature aura that Miku wondered how she had to reply if she was spoken to.

The redhead, who was occupying the teacher's chair, nodded when she saw Miku.

"That's her alright," she said, forgoing any greeting.

"Ooh, exciting," said the blonde, looking at the three younger students with contained amusement.

Luka ignored the odd greeting and merely introduced them all to each other. The blonde, named Lily, and the redhead, Cul, then greeted them normally, but Lily never stopped grinning. Miku felt uneasy: she felt like she was looking at a sibling of Meiko's, a woman who was endlessly entertained by information she shouldn't have.

Rin could only gush about how Luka had successfully remembered her name, while Gumi couldn't seem to care less about any of the people or what they were doing. She took the closest seat and started observing the blackboard. Miku stood uncomfortably by the door, unsure of what to do, ranting Rin at her side.

"Come on," coaxed Luka, gesturing to another seat as she went to stand in front of the blackboard.

She was very obviously happy about any newly obtained information, and couldn't wait to share it with the tealette. It warmed Miku's heart when she recognized that very feeling she'd had only a day prior. It was then Luka's turn to present her findings, and it was her turn to listen, sitting uncomfortably among the friends of a friend.

Of course, Miku had decided the previous day that what truly preoccupied her was the amnesia; she no longer cared for what could have caused them to meet. They met, and it made her endlessly happy and was what mattered most to her. Unfortunately, it seemed that the memory issue was deeply connected with the motive itself. Plus, she didn't know any other way of finding any answers she cared for, other than continuing the backtracking. So she listened, alert, curious, eager to find out what Luka had managed to discover.

"I'm going to presume that we're all up to speed," Luka started. "Letter, meeting up after school, shopping, end."

Miku raised a brow, before realizing that Luka had indeed kept the 'encounter' secret from her friends. She hoped that Gumi wouldn't point it out, and hoped that Rin was too excited to remember.

But then she felt a pair of eyes on her and realized that Lily was still grinning in her direction. The juice box was empty, and probably had been for a long time, but the blonde chewed on the straw mindlessly, smiling wisely. Miku couldn't help feeling like a mouse, and the cat knew all about the little tricks up her sleeve. And if she didn't? Well, she felt like she would chew her secrets right out of her.

She wondered if Luka had kept that single tag off of the time line for a very specific reason, and if that reason was staring right at her.

"Yup," Gumi answered to Luka's question as she leaned back in her chair.

"Now, 'til recently, most everything about it all was pure speculation and reasoning. We couldn't be sure of where Miku had gone right around noon at all. This is tied into who the letter came from in the first place. But thanks to Cul, we have eyewitness that right then when Miku disappeared, she had gone to talk to me."

"You saw them?!" squealed Rin.

"Yeah. Except," Cul trailed off, unsure if she could continue. Luka waved her head in a "go on" fashion. "Except I have no idea what you two were talking about. I had kept walking because I hadn't noticed that Luka had stopped to talk to you. I turned around, saw you two babbling excitedly, and then you ran off again. First time I ever saw you, really."

Theories solidified into truth. Miku watched as Luka added a complimentary comment to the dot on twelve o'clock. "Ran someplace" became "Talked."

"You didn't ask?" inquired Gumi.

"I don't ask about the business of people I don't know. And Luka didn't mention it. Thought I'd leave it alone."

"And now we're missing crucial information," blurted Rin. "Sorry, but it's true."

"Shit happens," shrugged Cul. "We deal with it."

Gumi sat straight, more questions to be asked.

"Do you think that you two talked about the fact that Luka finished school earlier?"

"It's pretty much guaranteed," said Luka. "I couldn't have known any other way. I wouldn't have waited otherwise."

"Because she did wait!" exclaimed Lily, breaking her silence. "See, I asked her why she was hanging around the gate. 'I'm waiting,' she said. 'Who for?' I asked. 'Miku,' she said."

Luka rolled her eyes, but agreed, "That's the next bit of certainty added. I did wait for you."

Somehow, Miku felt like they didn't need a witness to know that was a fact. But she smiled anyways, glad that the great Luka had indeed waited a full hour for little Miku.

"And you weren't going to have it any other way," added the blonde, still chewing on her straw.

Luka added the dot at three o'clock: "Waiting." Miku watched. The story was set in stone. It was complete. It was all there, except for...

"I'm afraid we still don't know why, though," Luka said, sounding disappointed.

...the why.

"Is it at all likely that Luka handed in the letter?" asked Gumi, undeterred.

"Oh, sure!" scoffed Cul. "She always gets there half an hour early. Always."

"Why?"

Miku wanted to glare at her friend for interrogating the pinkette, but with two piercing blue eyes watching her, so senselessly entertained, she hesitated.

"She just does I guess?" Cul trailed off.

"I like making sure my day is organized," Luka said. "I usually spend quite a few minutes seeing if anything new had been added to the notice board, in the hall by the door. Then I look at the classes I have, prepare my books, and then I might study a bit."

Lily scoffed, but said nothing, still smiling.

"Alright, so the whole thing is weird," mumbled Cul. "Your loss of memory, all that jazz. And apparently, the whole motive is missing. The letter and stuff. Do either of you two have any idea what it could have been about?" she asked.

Try to find it through guessing? Miku hadn't considered that. They'd reasoned their way to find the truth of their actions quite impressively, but never thought of actual reasoning to find the reason.

Lily was looking at her again, ever so amused.

What could have possibly motivated Luka to write to her? What could have possibly motivated her to make absolutely sure that they'd meet after school? What was the force behind them coming together that day? Could she guess it at all, ever?

"I have no idea," sighed Luka. "I've already thought about it quite a bit, but I don't have a clue about what I could have written to her, or why."

All eyes turned to Miku. She felt like shrinking away; how could she confess to not giving it so much thought?

"I don't know, either. I— I don't know."

"Maybe we can brainstorm through it," suggested Cul. "What did you already know about each other?"

"Nothing," answered Luka. She was nervously playing with her hair. "Absolutely nothing."

Cul frowned.

"Nothing at all? Then why write a letter to her if you don't know her?"

"That's part of the mystery, genius!" laughed Lily.

"Oh dang. This is more fucked up than I thought it was. I thought you guys could have been neighbors or something."

"Before Friday we'd never even spoken," commented Luka.

"Shit, this is weird," she trailed off. "So you don't know each other at all?"

"No, they don't!" exclaimed Rin.

"Well, that's not exactly the case anymore, considering," Luka pointed out, her eyes lowered. "But when all of this started, it was."

Cul seemed to digest the information, while Rin started mumbling about how truly weird it all was, that The Luka would write a letter to Miku. The tealette wanted to slap her since she still wouldn't shut up about that even though it's been heard a thousand times.

Lily, meanwhile, stared at Cul and seemed excited about something. Miku was reminded of the expression on people's faces when they were reaching the top of a roller coaster, just waiting for it to happen, just waiting for the drop.

She felt unsettled by Lily's spectating nature. Gumi was a very sharp observer, true, but she was discreet and sensible about it. This Lily looked like a puppeteer, pulling at the strings and watching how things would unveil. She didn't like it much.

"How did she know that she had to tell Luka that she'd have to wait?" inquired Cul suddenly. "If you don't know each other at all, then how did she know that school ended sooner for Luka?"

"That's simple enough," Gumi shrugged off. "She must have invited Miku to meet at that time."

"Right," Cul nodded, before perking up again.

And just then, it happened: the drop Lily was anxiously waiting for. A question came to Cul's lips, and she let it slip mindlessly, much to Miku's dismay.

"If you really don't know each other at all, and have nothing to do with each other, how the hell did you figure out that the other had amnesia, too?"

Lily giggled.

Miku shivered: the blonde had known that Luka had kept something from them, and she'd been waiting for it. She was the best friend, Miku realized. This all-seeing woman knew Luka far too well to be oblivious to anything concerning her.

Briefly, she wondered if she knew more than they all did. Did Lily know the answer they were seeking? Such suspicion was beyond reason, of course, but Miku couldn't help but entertain the thought for a few seconds.

Luka sighed, and Miku saw her hopes of keeping something from Lily shatter.

"I knew there was something amiss!" cheered the tall blonde.

"I asked the same question!" exclaimed Rin.

"Another good question is 'why did Luka remove the dot on five o'clock?'"

Of course, Gumi took her chance to add to the chaos. Of course she had noticed. Of course it could only get worse.

"Oooh, there's another clue?" asked Lily. "Do tell, green-haired friend of mine!"

Gumi squinted suspiciously in Lily's direction. Miku prayed that she wouldn't say a word, and it looked like Luka was doing the same.

"I'm not sure," Gumi slowly said, sounding wary of Lily's amusement.

"It would help us find the answer," argued Cul.

"It—"

Miku cut herself off. It wouldn't? No, it wouldn't really, she thought. Could it?

She failed to reason and could only think with her emotions. Did she want her friends, or Luka's friends, to know exactly what had happened? She didn't want to deny it ever happened, in fear of hurting Luka in some way. It had happened, though. But what would her friends think? Would they believe her? Even Gumi, who trusted her word so much, might hesitate. What impression would it leave? Would it only cause more questions than answers it might give?

"Yes, something else is there, but it's not important for you," spat Luka. "It won't help in any way if you knew or not."

Miku shivered: her tone had gone ice cold. Even Lily, who seemed so amused by it all, questioningly teasing Luka about what she was hiding, backed down.

"Alright," grumbled Luka when silence returned. She turned around and added a dot to the line, but didn't name it.

"So, how do you know about each other's amnesia?" tried Cul, hoping that question was still safe to ask.

"We're not obliged to answer you," Luka spoke dryly.

Lily was once again infinitely amused, though. She giggled, and Miku could see exactly how much Luka loathed how well Lily knew her.

The bell rang.

"Ah, class!" yelled Rin. "We're going to be so late!"

Miku was torn between relief and sadness. They were making progress, sure, but not in the direction she'd intended. It didn't help that they kept secrets from their friends, indirectly causing them to ask about things they didn't need to know. Even as she hurriedly made her way out of the class, she wondered what they could have discovered if time hadn't caught up with them, if they had spent it better.

She tried to wave goodbye to Luka as she was pulled by the sleeve into the hall. Maybe she spied a smile and a wave in return?

The following three hours of class were endless. Miku had decided to seriously brainstorm about the letter to pass the time, but could only get so far.

What possible subjects could motivate the meeting of two people, virtually strangers? How had Luka written the letter in such a way that Miku was so motivated, that she had to make absolutely sure that they could meet after class despite the differing hours? What could have been so compelling, so tempting, so inviting?

She tried to think of anything that would bewitch her so. She tried to think of anything she knew about Luka that could capture her. All that came to mind was her amazing experience at Luka's favorite karaoke but doubted that an offer for karaoke, no matter how eloquently put, would be so captivating. After all, they only went shopping later. Luka had invited her, apparently, but they'd gone to Miku's home.

Briefly, Miku wondered if somehow, something had happened before the letter. The idea quickly died, though, since she couldn't imagine how it would have worked. Luka arrived at school, went through her routine, wrote her letter, gave it to her, and she had read it as she arrived at school. Miku couldn't have had any influence before that moment, and had anything happened before that day, they would have remembered it.

She wondered if the letter, while the motive of their actions, was really linked with the amnesia itself. After all, she also forgot her morning, before their adventure started. How linked were the two questions? Would finding the answer to one really show the answer to the other? Until then, she had had that impression, but now she wasn't so sure.

Then Miku wondered how Luka had found her locker in the first place. They hadn't even met by then, so how did she know where her locker was in the big building?

Miku mentally shrugged: the pinkette had had thirty minutes to find her locker or so. She could have asked the janitor, or any of the administrative crew, who arrived around seven every morning. Yes, she had plenty of people to ask.

The final bell rang, and Miku snapped out of her thoughts. Three hours had gone by and she had listened to nothing and gotten nowhere.

"Yes, time to go home!" cheered Rin. "End of Monday is the best part of Monday!"

After checking their lockers one last time (the letter hadn't materialized by then) the trio walked outside into the fresh spring air. The wind was crisp, and even though it was only three in the afternoon, the sun was already quite low in the sky. Miku sighed: she hoped the days would get longer quickly.

"There's always tomorrow to find more things, Miku," comforted Gumi, misinterpreting the reason for the sigh.

"There is," answered Miku, her mind elsewhere.

She turned around, facing the building. They'd barely made it a few meters outside. She stopped. Rin noticed.

"Hey? Miku?"

The tealette stood there silently for a moment, other students filing out of the building around her. After a few minutes, the flow stopped. Luka hadn't come out yet, neither did her friends.

"I think I'll wait for her," mumbled Miku.

"Wait for Luka?" asked Rin, confused. "Why?"

Miku shrugged. She went back inside, letting Gumi drag away their blonde friend, without letting her ask any more questions. She considered standing by the door, barely out of the wind's grasp, before heading deeper inside, towards the common hall.

Numerous benches were littered around the large space, along with tall, potted plants. Vending machines and water coolers lined the far wall. Large bay windows showed the grass field outside. On the other side of the space, the massive library doors stood slightly ajar, its warm light seeping into the gray room.

Miku sat with her back to the windows and waited. Her brainstorming continued.

Luka had thirty minutes every morning, she thought, hoping to get a better perspective by putting everything she knew on the table. She would look at the school's notice board, prepare her day, study if she had the time. Miku arrived at school in time to go to her locker before class, so maybe five minutes before the bell rang. That would have given Luka roughly twenty-five minutes to compose her letter.

Ah, but she also needed to find Miku's locker. The tealette wondered how long that could take. How much time went into writing a letter, though? Gumi had said that it was a long letter, hadn't she? And it wasn't on good paper, either...Luka had probably been in a hurry, with only half an hour to write the message. And somehow, she'd managed to find her locker, too.

Miku realized that in order to compose her letter and find her locker, Luka would have had to forgo her entire morning schedule. No preparing, no studying.

The letter must have some root, though. An inspiration, a reason... Why would she start at all, which brought her back to the ultimate question? Did she find a reason to commence the project before she left her house?

No, Miku didn't find that very likely. Ah, but her parents hadn't questioned Luka when she had returned home on Saturday, she remembered. Maybe the source did lie where the pinkette lived. Maybe some delicious and cruel irony made it so that the source might have been Luka's parents themselves. And maybe this also explained why the amnesia was day-long.

But Miku shook her head. She needed to stay close to where she was since she couldn't go looking around the Megurine residence. She was at school, so she could only go searching around school. Her hopeful assumption was that the why was right there, somewhere in those halls, quickly encountered before Luka could start her morning routine.

Maybe, Luka probably didn't have to abandon it all. Maybe the pinkette could have gone through a minute or two of preparing her day? After all, she must have found inspiration somewhere! Maybe she just went through the very first part before finding the reason to—

Oh.

The notice board.

The bell rang, interrupting her thoughts the third time that day. In the seconds that followed, students filled the halls, making their way to the exit. Miku stared in the general direction of the library, practically shaking.

That stupid cork board in the school hallway, by the front door, plastered with posters, rosters, and other important things to communicate to students was usually entirely ignored by the masses of people who hurried in to get to class on time. But everything was there. So much was there. So much that at least one thing that could for some reason motivate Luka to write to her, of all people! had to be posted there.

It was mere meters away from her. The chances that it was practically identical to what it looked like on Friday were more than fair. All she had to do was walk up to it. All she had to do was look and see.

A sudden strange fear overtook her. Something she could only define as fear of success. It was right there. Everything she'd been working for, for the past three days, was right there. Only a few steps. Only a minute. But she refused to move.

What would change? Would she be disappointed by her findings? Or would there only be more questions? She dreaded the thought of that. No, she couldn't walk up to that stupid board, even though she'd walked past it already three times that day. She couldn't stand in the emptying hall and stare the answer in the face. She felt too frail. She felt like a lone tree facing an avalanche. She felt like the weight would crush her.

"Miku?"

She jumped. Luka stood there, school bag hanging from a shoulder, looking confused.

Of course she'd come.

"Everyone went home, Miku. Are you alright?"

"I— I waited for you."

Luka smiled but refused to ignore the fact that Miku had brushed past her question. "Are you alright?"

"I..."

Miku shook her head, refusing to roll up into a ball. She knew where to find the answer to it all! She shouldn't be afraid of it! She shouldn't be reluctant to share it!

"I know where the answer is."

Luka raised a brow before sitting next to the tealette. She didn't say a word, didn't push the younger student. Miku inhaled deeply.

"You needed the whole half hour to write the letter. You couldn't go through your regular morning ritual, or at least most of it."

Luka nodded, and Miku wondered what she thought of her being so scared of simply saying it. Why wasn't she more elated about their quest coming to an end?

"The notice board, Luka."

There was nothing more to add, and there was no reply. They sat in silence for a few moments before Luka stood. She held out a hand, which Miku took. Together, they slowly made their way to the cork board. Their footsteps echoed in the empty halls.

It was where it always was, illuminated by the long fluorescent light that hung right above it. So many papers. So many colors. So many words.

They stood there, side by side. Miku wondered if Luka could also taste how close they were to finding their answer. It was right there, before them. And all they needed was for their eyes to fall upon it.

Everything was there. A few random papers found on the floor, waiting to be found by their owners. Congratulations for some random student's promotion at his part-time job. A poster advertising a bake sale that Friday. Phone numbers for private tutors. A picture of someone's cat. Modified club hours.

An A4 poster about a small concert, celebrating spring.

It was brightly colored. The official information was written in fun fonts and was strewn all over the page. A list of original songs occupied the middle, while names of Miku's club members decorated the sides. Little fun emoticons filled gaps.

Miku's name was also there, credited of being the founder of the club.

She turned towards Luka. The pinkette was also staring at the poster.

There it was. They'd found it. The first domino. The seed of the flower. The hand of the creator. It looked so frail. It felt almighty.

Luka had let go of her hand.

Miku didn't think it was possible to feel so empty.

"I—" Luka trailed off, lost for words. "This is it, but..."

She gestured towards the pathetic painted poster. She seemed so lost all of a sudden.

"Somehow, I know that this caused it all. But I don't know why. I don't remember what I could have possibly felt when I saw this for the first time."

"...do you think it's because I've mentioned the concert before you saw it, this time around?"

"Maybe."

"You didn't see it this morning?"

"I was trying to convince Lily and Cul to get here earlier. After all, there was so much to tell them. If— If I'd seen it this morning, I would have also known then, that this was it. I feel it in my bones."

Luka sighed deeply, not taking her eyes off of the sheet.

"I don't know," she ended up saying, almost a whisper. "It's just lost."

Miku looked at the ground. There it was. That was it. They'd found it all, only to be left empty-handed. She felt achingly hollow and surprisingly tired. All that effort, for what, exactly? An answer that spoke in a language long lost.

"I suppose we'll never discover what exactly happened. I suppose I'll never remember what went through my head when I first saw this. I guess we'll never know."

Miku nodded, feeling weak and cold all of a sudden. She wanted to sleep and not wake up for a long time. What now?

They'll never know what motivated their meeting, and Miku realized that this disappointed her quite a bit. But never knowing what caused the amnesia, such a strange disturbing thing that put a hole in her mind, it chilled her to her core. They'll never know if it would happen again. They'll never know what happened that day. She supposed that the next best thing to do would be to go to a doctor. But would that help at all?

She felt stranded, empty handed, alone, and devoid of all emotion except a stinging feeling of failure. They'd gone so far, found so much, spent so much time on nothing.

"There's a silver lining, though."

Miku looked up, noticing that Luka had taken her eyes from the board. The fluorescent light flickered. Then the pinkette turned towards her, looking surprisingly even. She was calm, composed.

"I suppose we'll never know why this all happened, but I can see why."

Miku frowned. What?

Luka shrugged, smiling. She wasn't happy, she wasn't relieved, but she wasn't upset, she wasn't uncomfortable. She was content, somehow. She'd taken all of the information, had processed it so quickly, and had now moved on? Miku couldn't understand. It almost hurt her.

Luka's smile became understanding once again, as she obviously saw how lost Miku had gotten at her seemingly passive reaction.

"It's a feeling, I suppose," whispered the pinkette. "Just a feeling."

"What do you mean?" asked the tealette, finally able to voice her confusion. She was surprised at how upset she sounded: she seemed almost insulted even to her own ears.

"I've wondered about a few things since Saturday," started Luka. "I've wondered about what actually happened, between the dots we had managed to place on the whiteboard. I wondered how it all started. I wondered what happened after Meiko had seen the last of us...

"And most importantly, I wondered why you. 'Why me' is usually quite useless because you can't view yourself objectively no matter how hard you try. And I didn't know you at all. I didn't know if you were kind or funny, serious or sad... So I wondered 'why you.' I wondered why I woke up next to you, why this whole thing revolves around me being with you. Of all people.

"But then I found out. You're determined, and endlessly optimistic, even if you sometimes have some doubts." She chuckled. "You like having things your way. You like keeping your things organized. You like knowing, you like sharing, you like singing and seeing the little things in security footage I can't possibly understand.

"Then I began wondering some more. And I wondered how I would have felt if it had been anybody else, only to realize that, honestly, I probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

"So why you? Probably because if we had never had our Friday-incident and forgotten it all, and say, we met in a totally normal way, and we'd gotten to know each other at a regular pace, well, I never would have had to guts to ask you out. And I would have spent the rest of my life wondering if I should have, if it would have been worth facing my parents with it, wondering if I could have been happy with you."

She smiled at Miku's growing bewildered expression.

"I suppose I'm trying to make an offer, because I've been given the opportunity to see myself through the eyes of different people, without my own biased feelings, fears or thoughts interfering simply because I've forgotten them all, and I learned that I was, for a day, very happy. I've wondered my whole life if I'd find someone who would make me so happy, and if anything that Kaito or Meiko have shown us are any indication, that someone is you. I could finally see why you, with me."

She hesitated for a second, but only a second.

"So here's my offer: what do you think of repeating Friday's events, all of our little milestones, all the little forgotten things that mean so much except spread over time, more officially and most importantly, more memorably?"

And Luka was standing there, looking slightly nervous, slightly shy, slightly bashful, but ultimately so sure of herself, so sure of what she wanted.

Miku was left breathless and speechless. She couldn't understand for a second, or maybe two. But then she understood; this whole adventure of finding the answers left them empty handed, yes, but thanks to it, apparently Luka had found something more. And maybe, it was what she had been looking for since the beginning. Miku realized what exactly Luka was saying, and the thought made her cheeks burn and her heart soar. The weight of all that had been said and understood wrapped around her and surrounded her like a big, thick, fuzzy blanket, drowning out all of the exterior world from her senses. She could have been anywhere: in those echoing halls, on the bus on her way home, or in Meiko's store, she would have been completely unaware of her surroundings and the people who could see. Her entire mind and consciousness were narrowed down to just her and Luka, down to the second she was experiencing. She had no time to think of the far past and no time to consider the future. All she knew was that throughout the days, Luka had brought her comfort and peace of mind. She'd pulled her out of her darkest thoughts, she'd brought her a feeling of security. Luka had made her happy. That was what she'd gained. And somehow, even as she doubted everything all the time, questioning all that surrounded her, she'd somehow managed to bring the pinkette happiness. They were both happy. Even as amnesia crushed them from all sides, as "whys" threatened to drown them, they were happy. What worth did the answers to their questions have compared to that? They might never know what happened that day, they might never know why they forgot, but what they'd gained felt like so much more.

Miku saw her vision grow blurry as tears gathered, threatening to fall. The feeling was similar to opening a Christmas present, entirely unsure of what to expect, but suddenly she was presented with something that she had somehow always wanted, and just like that, it was already hers. The surprise, the joy, and the happiness filled her to the brim and she could only cry.

Hands to her eyes, Miku managed to nod through it all, not daring to use her voice for fear that it could betray her. And then Luka was all around her, holding her 'til the bubbling feelings were ironed out, coaxed smooth so she stood there, crying her happiest tears.

She let herself be hugged for a few minutes, but it felt like a long eternity. And finally, she found out what it was like to have Luka run a hand through her hair. She sighed, removing her hands from her face to shyly return the hug, hiding between Luka's shoulder and neck. There was nothing else, and the emptiness from before was filled with all that surrounded her.

Despite the happiness, she couldn't ignore the secondary message in Luka's speech: her parents would kill her for being with a girl in any non-platonic fashion. The pinkette had already said so, Saturday morning. Worry seeped through her happy tears, and she couldn't help herself but ask about it.

"Your parents, they wouldn't like this?" she asked, careful, quiet. She felt her lips brush against Luka's skin.

"No," Luka sighed. "Unfortunately for them, I do."

Miku chuckled lightly, opening her eyes just enough to see Luka's smug smile.

"What about yours'?" asked the taller girl, suddenly curious. "I haven't heard anything from them."

"They're out of town," Miku answered, closing her eyes again, hoping to sink back into the embrace.

"You said that already. They're not actually dead, are they?"

Miku laughed. She tightened her hug around Luka's shoulders. The light flickered again, but nobody was there to notice.

"Of course not, silly," the tealette said, sticking her tongue out slightly. "They travel a lot for work. So much so that they don't actually live anywhere. My home is their official address, but I live alone pretty much all year."

Seeing Luka's frown, Miku quickly told her that she was fine, and spent most of her free time with Gumi and Rin; while often alone, she was hardly ever lonely and there was no reason to worry.

"Well, now you have me, too," Luka said, sounding very happy about it. "But when your parents find out, they wouldn't mind?"

"I don't think so."

"Ah, that's nice. The moment mine find out I'll probably be disowned."

Miku pulled back, sincerely bothered by her statement. It was like a slap back to reality. Her perception of weight returned all of a sudden, and she realized that 'til then, she'd been practically floating.

"Is it so bad?" she asked, jarringly alert. She was suddenly conscious of the halls, of the telltale lighting betraying the setting sun outside.

Luka shrugged, "Yeah. Thing is I think I always saw it coming. I got used to the idea, over the last three days. Of course, when it actually happens, it'll be a living nightmare. But now I don't have to continue hoping that maybe, just maybe, I won't end up disappointing them: that's such a heavy lie to keep."

Miku's heart broke a little at Luka's statement. She sank back into the hug, hoping to comfort the taller girl if only a bit. But time and space stayed with her.

"I'm glad I found you," Luka mumbled into the tealette's hair. "I'm glad that whatever happened on Friday did happen. I'm glad that something out there, in the universe, may have set this up for us."

Miku giggled at the reference and her heart warmed again.

"I think Meiko will like the idea of us being an item, again," added Luka. Miku nodded against her.

"Kaito, too."

"What about Rin and Gumi?"

Miku laughed to suddenly she almost scared them both.

"Please, they'd never believe it. I still don't," replied the tealette. It was true; she was drifting again, and almost couldn't believe that anything happening was real. She'd sooner believe that she was dreaming back at home.

"Euh, can I help you?"

The two girls jumped. Standing a few meters away, ladder over his shoulder, the school janitor eyed them with a confused frown.

They jumped apart, only partly because of embarrassment. He grinned, putting the ladder down.

"Hey, I remember you," he exclaimed in Luka's direction, sounding jolly. "You asked for Ms. Hatsune's locker number just last Friday! I'm guessing you found her, eh?"

Luka's eyes darted from the man to Miku, before she hesitantly answered, "Yes?"

He laughed, picking the ladder back up. Just as he was going to keep walking, Miku interrupted him.

But she didn't need to know anything anymore. She didn't need a reason or a why any longer. But was her curiosity strong enough to make her ask what he'd seen?

"Excuse me," she trailed off, hesitating.

He turned around, smile on his face. Miku felt Luka right next to her.

No, she didn't need anything more.

"...never mind."

The man chuckled.

"Eh, kids. I'm gonna shut the doors in a few, so I'm afraid you need to leave. You two have fun, though!" he laughed again, shouldered the ladder one last time, and walked down the hall.

The pair didn't waste any time and left the school building. It wasn't dark out quite yet, but the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon. The sky was painted purple and orange, with all the hues of blue and yellow in between. The wind was once again surprisingly sharp, biting their noses and eyes. Miku squinted, pulling at her scarf to cover her face. She'd under-dressed once again: she hadn't counted on coming home an entire hour later than usual. That single hour, apparently, made all the difference.

Luka held her hand again, and Miku warmed up from the inside. Happiness bubbled within her, and she couldn't help but lean against the pinkette, resting her head on her shoulder as they slowly walked through the growing darkness.

Miku then realized that once again, Luka was walking her home. And apparently, her senior wasn't going to go back on her decision. Either way, it wasn't like she was going to complain.

Luka then started asking questions about the concert. She'd seen the poster, had seen all she needed to see, yet she asked out of pure curiosity and simple interest. The subject then went to singing, and Miku made sure to let Luka know how much she had liked her favorite karaoke place, and hoped to go back there soon. Maybe they could bring all of their friends with them, Luka added. It would be fun, and Miku already started looking forward to it.

The tealette also mentioned that Math was suddenly going much better, so her senior no longer needed to worry. Nonetheless, the pinkette offered to help on whatever subject Miku could possibly get stuck on. Somehow, the idea that Miku could meet Luka's parents came up from that, and the tealette visibly hesitated. She hadn't liked how Luka had described them and felt like they would be able to see her "sins" just by looking at her. But the pinkette insisted that regardless of their beliefs, she loved them very much, that they were very kind, and that they would love to meet her. Somehow, it had only made the idea of meeting them more bitter, if less scary.

Dark had settled around them, but they had arrived at Miku's apartment building. As they approached, the lights went on. The door opened, welcoming them, as well as all sounds they would make, inside. The white, bare halls still echoed, but the two were no longer bothered by it. They spoke in whispers, quietly going up the steps.

Miku put her keys in her door, not looking forward to saying goodbye. She felt a hand on her shoulder, turned around and faced Luka. The pinkette was holding her phone with a grin.

"I think it's about time we exchanged numbers."

Miku wanted to cheer, both elated and feeling silly for having forgotten all about it until then. She gladly put her number in Luka's phone and without delay, the pinkette sent her a text message. The single beep spawned endless clones in the halls, but neither paid any mind. Quietly elated, Miku looked at the message.

_Thank you for everything._

And she laughed, feeling happy tears come to her eyes. It didn't feel like a goodbye at all. It felt like a prologue, and she couldn't wait for the story. When Luka wiped her tears away once again, she could only hug her tightly, mentally thanking Luka for coming back, that Saturday morning, for helping her, for always being there, for being such a comfort, for making her so happy.

And with that text message, now she knew that Luka would always help her, be there, comfort her, and make her happy no matter how far away. And she'd be damned if she wouldn't do her best to do the same. She wanted to always be there for Luka, no matter what.

"Now, I really don't want to forget this," mumbled Luka into her shoulder. "I feel like we need to take a picture or something. Or film this. Write it down, because I would hate to wake up tomorrow with all of this gone. I would hate to wake up with no memory of you, or everything we've managed to do together. I would hate to wake up without this happiness."

Miku stayed silent, agreeing.

"I can only imagine what we forgot," sighed Luka. "How much was it worth?"

"It's probably worth everything in the world to me," said Miku, quiet. "But it's alright, because we can start working on getting it all back."

She knew Luka smiled right then.

"Do you think it'll happen again?" the tealette asked.

Luka thought a long while, before answering. "It shouldn't. I don't think it's ever happened before. There's no reason for it to happen again. Yet it did happen. What's stopping it from coming back?"

"I don't know. In any case, I'm happy that no matter what happens, we'll have our friends to help us."

Luka laughed quietly, pulling back just enough so that they could look at each other. "I'm glad for that," she said.

"And if it does happen again, we'll just have to scare the amnesia away with our ridiculous determination!" Miku said. "We'll keep trying to remember, and we'll always find each other 'til it stops!"

They smiled, their foreheads touching. It made Miku's heart soar, and once again, she was totally detached from the passing time and the surrounding space.

"What if we end up remembering what happened, on Friday?" asked Luka, voice so quiet Miku almost didn't hear her.

"At best, hey, we'll finally know," she answered with a reassuring smile. "At worst, we'll manage."

"We'll manage," Luka echoed, happy with the answer she'd received.

The pinkette then ran her hands through Miku's hair, which made the shorter girl implode from happiness.

"You're so wonderful," murmured Luka.

Maybe it was thoughtless action, or maybe it was just a feeling, Miku didn't know, but she leaned forward and gingerly kissed the very tips of Luka's lips. She was shy, but so happy. It was a risk, but she felt so safe. This was new, but so comforting.

And Luka smiled and hugged her so tightly neither could properly breathe. Miku felt she might explode from all of the emotions. In their embrace, Luka kissed her cheek, and Miku thought she could die happy right then and there.

They stood there a minute or two. Reality slowly sank back upon them; they were standing in the halls of Miku's apartment building, it was late, and they were surprisingly exhausted.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" asked Luka.

"Of course," answered the tealette, quiet but beaming.

"And this time, we'll eat lunch together."

"That sounds perfect."

Then Luka kissed her brow, before turning away. Miku stayed there long enough to watch the pinkette turn the corner, hear her walk down the stairs, and go out the door. She stood there, a little dumbstruck by all the emotions, wondering how she'd keep all of her happiness contained until something moved in the hall.

Meiko's door was slightly open, and a hand squeezed through the opening, making a thumbs-up.

Miku rushed into her home before slamming the door, and couldn't help but wish that the halls echoed less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I can understand if you're unhappy with this ending. I explained this in depth when I originally posted this, so if you're hankering for a justification, you can find it at the very end of the original post, on Fanfiction. If demand is high enough then I'll copy/paste it here.  
> Again, I'm open to feedback of all kinds!


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